Gender System Justification, Gender Differences and Attitudes Towards Women’ Victimization

Abstract

According to the literature, women are actively participating in the victimization of their group because of their positive attitude towards established societal norms. This thesis is supported within the theoretical framework of system justification, which defends the thesis that individuals, both men and women, are motivated to perceive existing social arrangements as fair and legitimate. In this sense, it is admitted that women who strongly justify the gender system are less motivated to adopt collective behaviors to improve or challenge the unfavorable position in which they are living. As a result, they are likely to accept or endorse the domestic or family abuse that they are suffering. The present research falls within this perspective. It examines the causal link between gender system justification, gender differences, and attitudes toward women' victimization. Thus, it formulates the hypothesis that gender difference does not moderate the relationship between willingness to justify the system and attitude towards women' victimization. Participants are 126 students of both sexes enrolled in different faculties of the University of Dschang (Cameroon). Their age varies between 15 and 41 years (M. = 21.41). They completed a questionnaire measuring, respectively, the willingness to justify the gender system and the attitude towards women' victimization. The data collected provides empirical support for the hypothesis of the study. They reveal that the relationship between gender system justification and attitudes towards women' victimization is positive for both women and men. These results reveal the different dispositions through which men and women participate mutually in maintaining asymmetrics gender relations.

Domestic Violence Experienced by Women: Construction and Validation of a Measurement Method

“…Unlike other studies which reported a positive relationship between domestic violence and the legitimization of relations of domination between men and women [14,43,46], the results of the present work reveal that experienced domestic violence is negatively related to gender system justification. This observation could be explained by the fact that through its capacity to involve an awareness of one"s own experience of domestic violence, the experienced domestic violence could encourage the questioning of hegemonic and dominant discourses which promote adherence to stereotypes denying and at the same time justifying domestic violence [9,45].…”

“…As a result, within the Bamilé ké and Bé ti ethnic groups, for example, women can be victims of domestic violence if they are not submissive to their husbands, considered the head of the household [32]. Among the Bé ti specifically, women come to sing a hymn legitimizing domestic violence which is declaimed in these terms: "I like it when my husband beats me, there I feel that my lion still has all his strength" [14,34].…”

“…Other measures were administered to participants to ensure the validity of the Experienced Domestic Violence Scale. Indeed, several studies report that the difficulty in implementing strategies to confront partner violence plays an essential role in the perpetuation of the experience of domestic violence [14,22,64]. Consequently, participants in this study responded to a measure assessing the perceived lack of alternatives for dealing with domestic violence [64].…”

Stockholm Syndrome and Gender-Related Ideologies and Attitudes: A Psychometric Assessment

“…It is undoubtedly with a view to overcoming this linguistic limit that it has been suggested to researchers interested in the evaluation of Stockholm syndrome to take into account cultural differences (notably language) when administering this instrument [51]. In this perspective, the present research, which wants to fill this methodological limit linked to language, sets itself the objectives of: 1) translating and validating the French version of the scale for identifying reactions to Stockholm syndrome among Cameroonian women living in couples and victims of domestic violence; and 2) link the phenomenon of Stockholm syndrome to gender-related attitudes and ideologies, particularly because Stockholm syndrome can be linked to issues relating to the unequal distribution of power between partners; a predominant characteristic of patriarchal societies like those in which Cameroonian women live [22][23][24].…”