CREENCIAS Y PENSAMIENTOS DISTORSIONADOS HACIA LA VIOLENCIA EN HOMBRES Y MUJERES: AGRESIVIDAD, AUTOESTIMA Y CONTROL DEL SESGO DE RESPUESTA /[BELIEFS AND DISTORTED THINKING ABOUT VIOLENCE IN MEN AND WOMEN: AGGRESSIVENESS, SELF-ESTEEM EVALUATION OF RESPONSE BIAS]

Abstract

Irrational thoughts and distorted beliefs with respect to gender roles and the use of violence against a partner is not exclusive to aggressors, but can also form part of society as a whole. It is common to find cognitive biases and irrational beliefs among males referring specifically to the inferiority of women and gender roles. Similarly, males tend to justify and minimize violence and to blame women for the abuse. In this work, we relate sexist beliefs and distorted thoughts to aggressive behaviour and self-esteem. We make use of the factorial structure of the Distorted Beliefs and Thoughts Against Women in the Couple Questionnaire (CREE) whose reliability is α .92. The sample of volunteers was 223 adults from the Canary Islands, 102 men and 121 women ( M age = 35.25; SD = 10.46). To measure the effects of possible response distortion given in the tests, we have validated them using the scales of Social Desirability and Sincerity of the ATRAMIC test. Males scored higher than females for the factors “Gender Roles” and “Justification and Minimization of Abuse/Violence”. No significant differences were found between genders for either “Couple Relationship/Dominant Emotional Dependence” or “Exoneration for Abuse/Violence”. The variables studied that best predicted “Couple Relationship/Dominant Emotional Dependency” were Exoneration for Abuse /Violence, Hostility, Justification, and Minimization of Violence, Gender Roles, and Social Desirability.