Beliefs and attitudes about intimate partner violence against women in Spain.

Background: Some attitudes serve to justify violence against women, to blame women for the violence they experience, and to perpetuate levels of this violence. These attitudes often stem from traditional norms and beliefs which are important to identify. The purpose of this study is to compare beliefs about intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) between two time points, examining the effect of the respondents– sex and previous academic-training.

Method: Two opportunity samples of undergraduates took part in this study: 1,392 in 2006 (34.4% men and 65.6% women) and 730 in 2018 (36.3% men and 63.7% women). A four-factor model from the Inventory of Distorted Thoughts on Women and Violence (IPDMV) was used after assessing fit through CFA.

Results: Significant differences between 2006 and 2018 in all factors were found using MANCOVA (covariable: age). Differences were also found by sex and previous academic-training, and effects of interaction in the first factor between these variables and the time point.

Conclusions: The beliefs and distorted thoughts about women and violence fell between the two time points analysed, with less acceptance of these beliefs among women and people with prior IPVAW academic-training.