Attitudes towards emotional abuse in romantic relationships from a gender perspective

Emotional abuse is one of the most challenging forms of violence to define, and many individuals often unknowingly experience emotional abuse. Existing literature has found that individuals who have experienced psychological abuse tend to suffer from depression, low self-esteem, a decreased sense of autonomy, fear, and an increased risk of suicide. Current research indicates that physical abuse in romantic relationships is often accompanied by emotional abuse, supporting the idea that identifying emotional abuse is an essential factor in romantic relationships. On the other hand, studies on emotional abuse between partners in romantic relationships are limited. In this study, the attitudes of Turkish university students and individuals with university degrees or above towards emotional abuse were investigated. Gender differences were investigated. Additionally, the study examined whether the degree of emotional abuse was related to attitudes towards emotional abuse. In addition, it was also examined how the emotional abuse people were exposed to in romantic relationships differed according to gender. 272 people (66.2% women, 33.8% men) participated in the research. Demographics Form, Hypothetical Scenarios, and Follingstad's (2005) FPAS scale adapted to Turkish were used to collect data. Independent sample t test analysis was conducted to analyze the attitude scores of individuals. According to the findings of the research, the attitudes of female participants towards mild, moderate, and severe levels of emotional abuse varied from the attitudes of male participants. The scores of female individuals were found to be statistically higher. However, when looking at the experience dimension, no gender difference was found, and participants in both groups were found to have a certain amount of exposure. In hypothetical scenarios, there was no gender difference in attitudes towards emotional abuse, but male individuals stated that they were more exposed to this situation when the subject of the abuser was a woman. This study may be necessary in understanding and evaluating the prevalence of attitudes and experiences towards emotional abuse from a gender perspective. Key Words: gender differences, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, university students, Turkish culture