Give me your password! What are you hiding? Associated factors of intimate partner violence through technological abuse

Abstract

The present study explored the associated factors of intimate partner violence through technological abuse (ITPV) in a sample of 1113 participants aged 18 to 65 (71.3% females). Our research’s primary questions were the following: 1). Is there a significant link between relationship attachment styles and ITPV perpetration or victimization?; 2). Is there a significant link between participants’ demographic and relationship characteristics (i.e., relationship length and partners’ fidelity), online behavior (i.e., benign and toxic disinhibition), moral disengagement, psychological distress), and ITPV perpetration or victimization?; and 3). Did the COVID-19 pandemic increase ITPV perpetration or victimization?. We analyzed our data by creating three different groups, depending on participants’ answers concerning ITPV, i.e., the overall sample, abusers’ and victims’ groups. Our main results suggested significant, positive correlations between ITPV perpetration and victimization, moral disengagement, psychological distress, and online disinhibition. Age negatively correlated with IPVT victimization and perpetration. We also found significant associations between participants’ dominant relationship attachment style and their own and partners’ cheating behavior, as well as ITPV-victimization and perpetration. Finally, 13.7% to 23% of participants in all three groups considered that the Covid-19 increased the frequency of ITPV behaviors (for both abusers and victims). Results are discussed considering their theoretical and practical implications for domestic violence and the potential related prevention and intervention strategies.

Panorama of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in Brazil and its Association With Self-Perception of Health: Findings From a National Representative Survey

“…For instance, a major source of stress for victims is economic violence, one of the least studied forms of violence and often included in emotional or psychological abuse, encompasses controlling and limiting access to nancial resources, denying access to needs (e.g., food, clothing, medication), tracking the use of money and also withholding or hiding the money earned together 30 . Digital (or technological) intimate partner violence provides a quick and easy method of harassing women, using social media, GPS tracking, constant texting, or other forms of intimidation, embarrassment, and control, and it has been described as more frequent due to the COVID-19 pandemic 31 . Therefore, digital violence is a type of violence that deserves to be further studied through comparative analyzes before and after the pandemic, and our study portrays the prevalence in the year just before the pandemic.…”

“…Digital (or technological) IPV provides a quick and easy method of harassing women via social media, GPS tracking, constant texting, or other forms of intimidation, embarrassment, and control. This type of violence has been described as more frequent due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Maftei & Dănilă, 2021). Digital violence is a type of violence that deserves to be further studied via comparative analyses before and after the pandemic; our study portrays the prevalence in the year just before the pandemic.…”

The indirect effect of compassion on katagelasticism: the mediatiang role of moral disengagement and the moderating effect of intolerance of uncertainty

“…A more recent review by Newman and their collaborators [31] indicated several factors at both teams and organizational levels and personal characteristics such as low empathy, male gender, and cynicism that would further lead to various deviant behaviors. Regardless of the working model, the related research highlights the various adverse effects of moral disengagement, e.g., aggression, bullying, cyber aggression, and antisocial behavior, in general [32][33][34][35]. Thus, extending and adding to the previous findings related to the predictors and mediators of moral disengagement is all the more important.…”

“…The detrimental effects of moral disengagement have been assessed in various studies, all of them highlighting the importance of further exploring the potential predictors and associated factors of these cognitive mechanisms [32][33][34][35]. However, the specific indirect effect of moral disengagement on katagelasticism has not yet been investigated when discussing compassion.…”

Does Online Jealousy Lead to Online Control in Dating Adolescents? The Moderation Role of Moral Disengagement and Socio-Emotional Competence

“…The extant scientific literature presents conclusive evidence regarding the strong association between moral disengagement mechanisms and bullying (Romera et al, 2019) and cyberbullying (Lo Cricchio et al, 2021). The association between this cognitive process and dating violence has been less explored, and the results point to a moderate relationship between these two variables (Maftei & Dănilă, 2021; Rubio-Garay et al, 2019; Sánchez-Jiménez & Muñoz-Fernández, 2021). A recent study (Sánchez-Jiménez et al, 2021) found that adolescents with high levels of moral disengagement perceived online control as less aggressive than their counterparts with low levels.…”