“One Doesn’t Slap a Girl But…” Social Representations and Legitimization of Intimate Partner Violence in a French Context

Solveig Lelaurain (1) , David Fonte (1) , Aim Marie-Anastasie (1) , Grégory Lo Monaco (1) , Thémis Apostolidis (1)

1 LPS - Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale

The present research, which fits into the conceptual framework of social representations, aims to analyze the impact of gender and legitimizing ideologies on the evaluation of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women. Using an inductive mixed methods approach, two studies were conducted in a French context. In Study 1, 24 participants were asked to express their views about a vignette describing an IPV case during semi-structured interviews. In Study 2, 123 participants completed a questionnaire which was based on the results of Study 1. They were asked to evaluate the severity and justification for this same IPV case in relation to several situations identified in interviews. They also completed two scales measuring adherence to ideologies legitimizing male dominance: the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory and the Domestic Violence Myth Acceptance Scale. Results show expressed ambivalence by participants between condemnation of IPV and the use of conditional logics in order to minimize or justify it. The expression of this reasoning was determined by social regulations such as the situations in which the violence occurred and adherence to legitimizing ideologies. Our results are relevant for campaigns raising awareness and educational programs that take into account social representations underlying IPV legitimization.

Keywords: domestic violence; social beliefs; gender differences; patriarchy; France

Domains: Humanities and Social Sciences; Psychology

Solveig Lelaurain, David Fonte, Aim Marie-Anastasie, Grégory Lo Monaco, Thémis Apostolidis. “One Doesn’t Slap a Girl But…” Social Representations and Legitimization of Intimate Partner Violence in a French Context. Sex Roles, 2018, 78 (9), pp.637-652. ⟨hal-01666928⟩