From the Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center of the University of Granada (UGR), members of the Social Psychology and Gender Laboratory (https://www.pps-ugr.es/labs/psicologia-social-y-genero/) within the Psychology of Social Problems group (HUM-289) have proposed a conceptual model to understand which variables influence decision-making in relationships taking into account the presence of couple conflicts or gender violence.
Decision-making in favor of the well-being and integrity of women is essential, but the process is not always easy, especially when it affects important areas, such as the couple. Therefore, a conceptual model was proposed to understand which variables influence the decision-making process in women, differentiating the type of relationship they are in (presence of partner conflict vs. gender violence).
The results confirmed that greater emotional dependence and commitment to the relationship influenced women who were victims of gender violence (vs. women who reported partner conflict) to use the strategy of breaking off the violent relationship less frequently. That is, the presence of these variables made it more difficult for women to make a decision to break the violent relationship.
In addition, almost half of the women who experienced gender-based violence did not believe that the violence would be repeated in the future, a perception that does not motivate them to take action and that could favor the maintenance of the abusive relationship, implying a risk to their lives. This lack of risk perception, added to the perceptual distortions observed in women victims of gender violence, is alarming, so its study and analysis constitutes our object of research.
In conclusion, given the seriousness of gender violence for the health and integrity of women, this research highlights the importance of working on the variables that make it difficult to make decisions aimed at breaking the violent relationship, such as emotional dependence, commitment to the relationship and lack of risk perception.
Full reference: Badenes-Sastre, M., Beltrán-Morillas, A. M., & Expósito, F. (2023). Absence versus presence of intimate partner violence in a sample of Spanish women: Conflict resolution strategies and associated variables. Violence Against Women, 1-22. doi:10.1177/10778012221147907.
Contact researchers:
Marta Badenes Sastre (mbsastre@ugr.es).
Ana María Beltrán Morillas (abelmo@ugr.es)
Francisca Expósito Jiménez (fexposit@ugr.es)