Determining the Relationship Between University Students’ Belief in Romantic Love Myths, Attitudes Toward Dating Violence, and Attitudes Toward Violence Against Women

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to determine the relationship between university students’ levels of belief in romantic love myths, attitudes toward dating violence, and attitudes toward violence against women. Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional research was conducted at a university in northern Turkey between May and December 2022. The study sample was calculated using the known universe sampling method. The research was completed with 374 students. Data were collected using a Demographic Information Form, Romantic Love Myths Scale (RLMS), Dating Violence Attitude Scale (DVAS), and ISKEBE Violence Against Women Attitude Scale (VAWAS). Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis, and Spearman Correlation analysis were used for data evaluation. Results: While 58.1% of students currently had no romantic relationship, 57.0% had previous romantic relationship experience. The average scores from RLMS were 26.46±7.60, DVAS scores were 4.42±0.48, and ISKEBE scores were 131.35±21.55. It was found that male students, those studying in vocational schools, and those with a romantic relationship duration between 6 months and one year had significantly higher levels of belief in romantic love myths (p<0.05). There was a significant relationship between RLMS and DVAS, RLMS and VAWAS, and DVAS and VAWAS (p=0.000). Conclusion: It was found that the students' beliefs in romantic love myths were at a moderate level, they did not support dating violence and were against violence against women. The students' romantic love myths were related to their attitudes towards dating violence, romantic love myths were related to their attitudes towards violence against women and their attitudes towards dating violence were related to their attitudes towards violence against women.