Attitudes and Beliefs About Gender Violence in Toledo University Students: a Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Aim To analyse attitudes towards gender and violence and the sexist beliefs of the student body based on different sociodemographic variables and to study the relationship between attitudes towards gender and violence and the sexist beliefs that students show. Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study, following the Strengthening the Reporting of Observation Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist. Methods This study was carried out with undergraduate students from the University of one of the Campuses of the University of Castilla-La Mancha de enrolled in the 2022–2023 academic year. A total of 1176 students took an online survey. This survey included sociodemographic variables, the Questionnaire of Attitudes towards Gender and Violence (CAGV) and the variables of sexism (hostile and benevolent) reflected in the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ISA). A descriptive analysis, an inferential analysis and a Pearson correlation were performed for the scores of the two scales used, controlling for the influence of sex and age. Results Of the participants, 67.1% women and 32.0% were men. The average age was 20.13 years, with a deviation of 2,166, aged between 18 and 26 years. Being carried out in several Faculties of the Campus. The results highlight the significant differences between the group of men and women in both questionnaires, observing differences between the age groups. In general, men have higher scores than women, so they have higher sexist attitudes and beliefs. The correlations between both questionnaires are significant among all categories. Conclusions We believe that the data analysed call for the implementation of action plans to reduce sexist behaviour in university students. Universities must establish action plans against gender violence.