Role of Ambivalent Sexism on Approval of Violence and Intention to Intervene in Media Campaigns Designed to Prevent Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of manipulating actor gender and relationship status in violence prevention campaign posters upon the relationship between ambivalent sexism and 1) approval of intimate partner violence (IPV), 2) intention to intervene as a bystander, and 3) understanding of IPV. The bystander literature was used to inform the design of the posters. The study employed a between-subjects design where participants (N=421) completed an online survey where they had to view one of four different poster conditions which displayed a victim telling two friends about how they were assaulted the previous night. Poster conditions were varied on the gender of the victim and perpetrator (male or female) and on the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator (stranger or intimate partner). The participants completed the Conflict Tactics Scale – 2 and the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory before viewing the posters. After viewing the posters participants then completed the Bystander Attitudes Scale, Beliefs about Relationship Aggression Scale and an Understanding of IPV scale. Structural Equation Modelling was employed to analyse the data. The analysis revealed that there were no significant moderating roles of relationship status, victim gender, or participant gender on the relationship between ambivalent sexism and approval of violence, intention to intervene, or understanding of IPV. The study concluded that a multifaceted approach is needed to reduce IPV effectively beyond the use of media campaign posters alone.