TITLE:
Subtle Psychological Violence and Couple Satisfaction among University Students
AUTHORS:
Aurelio Lascorz, Santiago Yubero, Elisa Larrañaga
KEYWORDS:
Subtle Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, Couple Satisfaction
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.8 No.3,
March
25,
2020
ABSTRACT: Psychological
aggressions are difficult to detect. For instance, different forms of micro
male behaviours normally are so subtle that they go unnoticed. According to
Intimate Partner Violence perspective, partner violence is bidirectional.
Moreover, some authors have reported that partner violence is associated with low levels of satisfaction with the
relationship. The objective of this study is cognisance of the incidence of
subtle psychological abuse among couples of university students through micro
male behaviours and to analyse how it is perceived, taking the sex and the role
played into account (perpetrator, victim or both) and the differences depending
on the strategies of psychological violence used. University students (N =
1156) from 28 universities from all over Spain, throughout an academic course,
participated in this cross-sectional
non-experimental study. In order to identify subtle psychological violence, the
Questionnaire on Micro Male Conducts of Ferrer et al. (2008) was adapted to a
self-report on behaviours used towards the partner (perpetration) and received
from him/her (victimisation). Behaviours are grouped into five strategies. We
have verified that the couples of young university students report high levels of
involvement in micro male behaviours and confirm that aggressions are
bidirectional. As far as satisfaction with the partner is concerned, the
strategies of psychological violence of confinement to a traditional role and
generating insecurity go unnoticed among men. An important difference is found,
as women definitely are sensitive towards victimisation of insecurity by their
partners. There is a common pattern in terms of strategies of invading spaces
and underestimating; in both cases, they have an important impact on
satisfaction with the partner and reduce the level thereof. These findings
suggest that victims do not properly value the information received. In order
to reduce psychological violence among couples, it is important that young
people identify abusive behaviours and the level of violence they may be
facing.