Intimate Partner Violence - Who is to Blame?

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an important public health and social problem leaving devastating mental and physical problems regardless of age, culture, race, or geography. In order to understand IPV, it is important to examine how cultures construct attitudes, norms and expectations about relationships. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine; (a) attitudes towards IPV between genders, (b) victim-blaming attributions, (c) the role of a number of variables that might lead to violence in relationships; more specifically myth endorsement, beating beliefs, ambivalent sexism (AS), victim-blaming attribution, IPV attitudes and empathy. The sample consisted of 260 (174 females; 86 males) Turkish speaking participants who completed self-report measures including Victim Blaming Attribution Measure, Intimate Partner Violence Attitudes Scale, Interpersonal Reactivity Index, Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, Myth Attitudes Scale, and Inventory of Beliefs about Wife Beating. Results revealed that positive beliefs toward beating, hostile sexism (HS) and benevolent sexism (BS) predicted victim-blaming in males; whereas beating beliefs, attitudes toward IPV, BS and empathic concern (EC) predicted victim-blaming in females. Regardless of gender, predictors of attitudes toward IPV were found as beating beliefs, victim-blaming, BS, and perspective taking (PT). Also, BS, HS and beating beliefs together mediate the link of IPV attitudes and victim-blaming. Results are discussed in light of the traditional gender system evident in Turkish societal make-up by providing insight into cultural factors.