The effect of romantic love myths and sexting in predicting cyber dating violence

The aim of this study is to examine the role of gender, age, the presence of an ongoing romantic relationship, average time spent with a partner online in one day, idealization of love, abuse of love, frequency of sexting, and attitudes towards sexting in predicting cyber dating violence exposure and cyber dating violence perpetration. In addition, it was examined whether the variables of cyber dating violence exposure, cyber dating violence perpetration, idealization of love, abuse of love, frequency of sexting, and attitudes towards sexting differed according to gender, socioeconomic level, the duration of the longest romantic relationship, the duration of the ongoing romantic relationship, the average time spent with the partner in a day and the use of a joint social media account with the partner. The sample consists of 716 (441 female, 275 male) university students. In the study, demographic information form, Cyber Dating Abuse Scale, Romantic Love Myths Scale, and Sexting Scale were used to collect data. Pearson Correlation Analysis, Hierarchical Regression Analysis, T-test for Independent Samples, and One-Way Analysis of Variance for Independent Groups were used for data analysis. The results of the study revealed that men's mean scores on the frequency of cyber dating violence exposure were significantly higher than women's mean scores. The mean score of attitude towards sexting was significantly higher in the group with higher socioeconomic status. The mean scores of cyber dating violence exposure and cyber dating violence perpetration were significantly higher for individuals with a longer duration of the longest romantic relationship compared to individuals with a shorter duration of the longest romantic relationship. The frequency of sexting and the mean scores of attitudes towards sexting of individuals with longer duration of the longest romantic relationship were significantly higher than those of individuals with less duration of the longest romantic relationship. Individuals who spend more time with their partners in virtual environment have significantly higher mean scores in cyber dating violence perpetration, frequency of sexting, attitude towards sexting, and idealization of love v than individuals who spend less time with their partners in virtual environment. The mean scores of individuals who involuntarily use joint social media accounts with their partners are significantly higher than the mean scores of individuals who do not use joint social media accounts. Finally, it was found that gender, age, duration of ongoing romantic relationship, average time spent with a partner in virtual environment in a day, idealization of love, abuse of love, frequency of sexting, and attitude towards sexting significantly predicted cyber dating violence exposure and cyber dating violence perpetration.