Psychological aggressions are difficult to detect. For instance, different forms of micro male behaviours normally are so subtle that they go unnoticed. According to Intimate Partner Violence perspective, partner violence is bidirectional. Moreover, some authors have reported that partner violence is associated with low levels of satisfaction with the relationship. The objective of this study is cognisance of the incidence of subtle psychological abuse among couples of university students through micro male behaviours and to analyse how it is perceived, taking the sex and the role played into account (perpetrator, victim or both) and the differences depending on the strategies of psychological violence used. University students (N = 1156) from 28 universities from all over Spain, throughout an academic course, participated in this crosssectional non-experimental study. In order to identify subtle psychological violence, the Questionnaire on Micro Male Conducts of Ferrer et al. (2008) was adapted to a self-report on behaviours used towards the partner (perpetration) and received from him/her (victimisation). Behaviours are grouped into five strategies. We have verified that the couples of young university students report high levels of involvement in micro male behaviours and confirm that aggressions are bidirectional. As far as satisfaction with the partner is concerned, the strategies of psychological violence of confinement to a traditional role and generating insecurity go unnoticed among men. An important difference is found, as women definitely are sensitive towards victimisation of insecurity by their partners. There is a common pattern in terms of strategies of invading spaces and underestimating; in both cases, they have an important impact on satisfaction with the partner and reduce the level thereof. These findings suggest that victims do not properly value the information received. In order to reduce psychological violence among couples, it is important that young people identify abusive behaviours and the level of violence they may be facing.

The use of psychological aggressive tactics in intimate relationships has become a critical target of research in the social sciences in recent years. The goal of the present study is to analyse the prevalence of covert violence in intimate partner relationships, in general and differentiated by gender, using micro sexist aggressions. The objective of this research was to compare differences within each status category (victim, perpetrator, and mutual). A second aim of the study was to explore the influence of the dominance in the cover violence. A total of 1889 youths, from 28 universities participated in the survey, 81.8% of which were female. The results indicate a high prevalence of covert violence in interpersonal relationships, revealing not important differences between the sexes. The mutual violence was the most frequent pattern in the global cover violence (66.7%). The lineal regression analyses reveal that dominance predicts multi-violence in young partners. These data provide an objective view of mutual violence in Spanish community samples and serve as a reference point for prevention and intervention programs.