Cyber-dating abuse in young adult couples: Relations with sexist attitudes and violence justification, smartphone usage and impulsivity

Abstract

Technologies have become important for interaction in couples. However, in some cases, controlling and aggressive behaviors can occur in the context of virtual interactions in couples; this is known as cyber-dating abuse (CDA). Identifying factors linked to CDA, as perpetrator and victim, are relevant for its prevention; therefore, more research is needed in this novel field of study. To contribute to the literature, our first goal was to analyze the associations among certain risk factors for CDA perpetration and victimization of, i.e., sexist attitudes and violence justification, problematic smartphone usage and impulsivity; sex and age were also considered. The second goal was to study whether there were differences in direct aggression and control, from the perpetrator and victim perspectives, with consideration of the above-mentioned risk factors. Third, differences in the diverse range of control behaviors and direct aggression between women and men were explored. To this end, 697 young adults (aged between 18 and 35 years; 548 women) completed self-report questionnaires that allowed assessment of the above-mentioned variables. The results showed that, among the wide range of CDA behaviors, indirect ones such as control behaviors were the most common. The highest level of control was strongly associated with the inability to manage behaviors under certain emotional states, especially negative ones, along with problematic smartphone usage. Sex differences were also observed: men displayed more sexist attitudes and violence justification, and perceived that they were more controlled by their partners. Regarding CDA behaviors, men and women showed differences in control (e.g. men considered themselves to be more controlled in terms of location and status updates), and direct aggression (e.g. men used more insults and humiliations than women). The results were discussed in terms of the importance of better understanding these risk factors to attenuate the increasing prevalence of CDA in relationships.

The role of patriarchal structure and gender stereotypes in cyber dating abuse: A qualitative examination of male perpetrators experiences

“…Our results are in line with previous studies on CDA, which confirmed that control and direct aggression are common practices of CDA among young couples (Borrajo, Gámez‐Guadix, & Calvete, 2015; Borrajo, Gámez‐Guadix, Pereda, 2015; Lara, 2020; Linares et al., 2021; Taylor & Xia, 2018). Linares et al.…”

“…Our results are in line with previous studies on CDA, which confirmed that control and direct aggression are common practices of CDA among young couples Borrajo, Gámez-Guadix, Pereda, 2015;Lara, 2020;Linares et al, 2021;Taylor & Xia, 2018). Linares et al (2021) found that men realized that they were more controlling and aggressive than their female partners in the CDA context: they more commonly used insults and humiliation, displayed more sexist attitudes, and justified their violence.…”

“…Our results are in line with previous studies on CDA, which confirmed that control and direct aggression are common practices of CDA among young couples Borrajo, Gámez-Guadix, Pereda, 2015;Lara, 2020;Linares et al, 2021;Taylor & Xia, 2018). Linares et al (2021) found that men realized that they were more controlling and aggressive than their female partners in the CDA context: they more commonly used insults and humiliation, displayed more sexist attitudes, and justified their violence. In general, the controlling, aggressive, and/or violent behaviors witnessed in CDA align with stereotypical gender roles , and the myths of hegemonic masculinity and sexual aggression fully mediate the relationship between gender and perpetrating CDA (March et al, 2021).…”

“…Linares et al. (2021) found that men realized that they were more controlling and aggressive than their female partners in the CDA context: they more commonly used insults and humiliation, displayed more sexist attitudes, and justified their violence. In general, the controlling, aggressive, and/or violent behaviors witnessed in CDA align with stereotypical gender roles (Reed et al., 2021), and the myths of hegemonic masculinity and sexual aggression fully mediate the relationship between gender and perpetrating CDA (March et al., 2021).…”

Social network addiction symptoms and body dissatisfaction in young women: exploring the mediating role of awareness of appearance pressure and internalization of the thin ideal

“…To this end, we constructed a serial mediational model between SNS addiction symptoms and BD (using the Body Shape Questionnaire [BSQ]; [ 68 ]), including awareness of appearance-related pressures and internalization of the thin ideal (using the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4 [SATAQ-4] awareness and internalization subscales; [ 69 ]) as mediating variables. Given the variety of SNSs used by college students, most of whom also use several SNSs (e.g., the majority of participants in Linares et al [ 70 ] used four or five SNSs), a scale to assess addiction to a specific SNS (e.g., the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale; [ 29 ]) would have not been representative of all potential participants. Therefore, we used the Social Network Addiction scale (SNA; [ 71 ]) as a global measure of SNS addiction symptoms.…”