Challenging perceptions of violence is crucial to prevent dating violence (DV), because such perceptions intervene in the organization and interpretation of violent events. However, these perceptions have received limited attention. This likely reflects the lack of a psychometric tool to do so. The current study had two purposes: to develop a measure of perceptions of psychological, sexual, and physical DV, and to explore how vertical collectivism, through hostile sexism and violence myth acceptance, shapes perceptions of DV. A total of 491 college students (55.3% women; M = 20.76 years, SD = 1.77 years) completed measures of the vertical collectivism, hostile sexism, domestic violence myth acceptance, and perceptions of DV. The results of exploratory factor analyses revealed a 15-item single-factor measure of perceptions of DV as initial construct validity, which had satisfactory internal consistency. A gender difference emerged in perceptions of DV; college women perceived psychological, sexual, and physical DV as more serious compared with college men. Moreover, the association between vertical collectivism and perceptions of DV was serially mediated via hostile sexism and violence myth acceptance. The findings are discussed in terms of previous research and the need to address the role of vertical collectivism in sexism, myth acceptance, and perceptions of violence in prevention/intervention efforts to reduce vulnerability to DV perpetration and victimization. Several recommendations are outlined to facilitate future research.

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Dating violence is manifested in different forms between romantic partners. Psychological violence, the most common form of dating violence, is more likely to affect women, eliciting feelings such as shame and guilt. The robust relationship of sexism to psychological dating violence victimization (PDVV) is well-documented but whether PDVV serves as a mechanism linking sexism to guilt and shame remains unexplored. This study, therefore, investigated the potential mediating role of PDVV in the association between sexist attitudes and feelings of guilt and shame. Dating college women ( N = 219) from Turkey, an honor culture in which one’s self-worth lies on one’s evaluation as well as the assessment of what others think, participated in the study. High rates of PDVV were found in this culture, and structural equation modeling revealed that PDVV mediated the relationship between sexism and feelings of guilt and shame. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for future research and how sexist attitudes might be challenged to reduce the adverse emotional effects experienced by women who are victims of psychological dating violence.

Witnessing interparental conflict in childhood predicts psychological dating violence victimization (PDVV) in adulthood. As found in previous studies, PDVV and hopelessness are associated with depression. However, the associations among these four variables have not been explored in detail. The present study, therefore, examined the association between perceived interparental conflict and depression in adulthood and whether PDVV and hopelessness might operate as sequential mechanisms accounting for the association. Participants ( N = 283; Mage = 23.37 years, SD = 4.04 years) in romantic relationships completed measures of perceived interparental conflict, PDVV, hopelessness, and depression. The perceived interparental conflict was related to PDVV and depression but not to hopelessness in adulthood. Moreover, the association between witnessing interparental conflict and depression was serially mediated via PDVV and hopelessness. The results are discussed in regard to previous research, and their implications for future research are presented.