The mediating role of family belonging and authenticity in the relationship between university students' attachment styles and dating violence

In this study, the mediating role of family belonging and authenticity in the relationship between university students' attachment styles and dating violence was investigated. The study group of the research consists of a total of 480 university students, 340 women (70.8%) and 140 (29.2) men, who have experienced at least one romantic relationship or are currently in a romantic relationship. Data for research; "Personal Information Form", "Family Belonging Scale" (Mavili et al., 2014), "Authenticity Scale" (İlhan and Özdemir, 2013), "Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory II" (Selçuk et al., 2005) and "Dating Violence Attitude Scale" (Gönenç et al., 2016) forms were used. In the first stage of data analysis, CFA was applied to test the validity of the measurement tools in the sample in this study. In the second stage, SEM was established by making path analyzes as designed among the measurement tools. SPSS 25 and LISREL 8.51 programs were used for these processes. According to the findings obtained from the research, it was determined that family belonging and authenticity had a partial mediating role in the relationship between attachment style and dating violence. When the relationship of the variables was examined, it was found that there was a negative relationship between dating violence and family belonging and authenticity, and a positive relationship between anxious and avoidant attachment style. Dating violence and some demographic variables were examined. According to the findings, when the relationship between dating violence and gender variable is examined, it is concluded that women's attitudes towards dating violence are more negative than men. According to another result, a significant difference was found between dating violence and the way individuals evaluate themselves in a relationship. It has been determined that individuals who consider themselves modern in a romantic relationship have more negative attitudes towards violence than individuals who consider themselves traditional or romantic. It was found that there was no significant difference according to the education level of the individual's mother and father, and the place of residence where a long part of his life was spent.