Beliefs about gender violence. Sexism in adolescent relationships

Abstract

This paper explores the relationships in adolescence, examining beliefs about gender violence from a cognitive-developmental perspective. The sample consists of 297 students from 3 different state-subsidized schools, between the ages of 13-18 (2nd and 4th years of Secondary Education and 2nd year of High School). The students’ representations of relationships are analyzed from the point of view of both genders and the degree to which they consider violence to be justified. The study is based upon a transversal design (quasi-experimental) with survey. The instrument used is an adaptation of the Cuestionario de Actitudes hacia la Diversidad y la Violencia (Questionnaire of Attitudes towards Diversity and Violence). The results demonstrate a partial relationship between moral-evolutionary development and the degree of justification applied to different situations in which there is violence. The data shows that the acceptance of sexist beliefs and the justification of violence decrease as students get older. However, from 15-16 years old (4th ESO) is the age at which students most justify gender stereotypes. The study indicates middle- adolescence as the ideal time to carry out psycho-educational interventions, taking into account the values related to equality and respect between genders.

Educational Intervention to Decrease Justification of Adolescent Dating Violence: A Comparative Quasi-Experimental Study

“…These data are consistent with the findings of Price et al [ 56 ], who concluded that both boys and girls were more accepting of female violence than male violence, with boys offering a higher level of justification. Others [ 57 ] have also found that boys were more likely than girls to justify physical dating violence as a method of defence. Likewise, previous authors [ 58 ] concluded that girls justify their aggressions more as an outburst of anger (girls, 22.4% vs. boys, 13.9%), while boys do it to defend themselves from an earlier aggression (girls, 6.6% vs. boys, 13.0%).…”

El impacto de los roles de género en las actitudes sexistas de los adolescentes, en el ámbito escolar

“…Por tanto, es un periodo crucial para el establecimiento de relaciones de género porque se produce la consolidación de las habilidades, la expansión de las relaciones entre iguales y la construcción de nuevas redes sociales y de parejas sentimentales (Ramiro-Sánchez et al, 2018;Rebollo-Catalán et al, 2017). Diversas investigaciones realizadas con población adolescente española (véase Azorín, 2017;Calvo, 2018;Carrera-Fernández et al, 2017;De la Osa et al, 2015), así como en otros países de habla hispana (por ejemplo, Hernández y González, 2016), muestran que existe desigualdad y falta de equidad en las relaciones de género y en la vida sexual de la población adolescente. Otros estudios, como el de Gutiérrez et al (2019), en cambio, sostienen que en los países occidentales las formas tradicionales de comportamientos sexistas son poco habituales y que las concepciones del sexismo basadas en diferencias biológicas han evolucionado hacia otras formas de "sexismo benevolente" (Glick y Fiske, 1996).…”