Introduction
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is one of the most challenging issues in
our society. Most studies in IPV have focused on marital relationships;
however, over the last decades, a growing interest arose around teen
dating violence (TDV) \cite{Shorey2013}. This type of violence
presents certain peculiarities. First, in TDV it is uncommon for the
couple to cohabitate, to have children, or to be financially independent
of their partner, elements commonly used to manipulate the victim in IPV \cite{Arenas-Arroyo2021,Postmus2020}. Second, TDV has been
described as bidirectional, that is, both members of the couple receive and perpetrate abusive behaviors \cite{Spencer2020}. Reciprocity in TDV requires special attention, as
it may reflect the normalization of abuse within romantic relationships.
Although TDV has been described as a predictor of marital violence, it
is unclear what produces TDV \cite{Borges_2020}, but the acceptance
of the myths of romantic love may play a key role in its development.
TDV is estimated to affect around 20% of adolescents \cite{Tomaszewska2021}, but numbers could be higher due to a number of reasons.
Since TDV has been equated to IPV, research has focused on women as
victims. As a result, little is known about how TDV affects young boys.
Although most research on TDV supports that women represent the largest
proportion of victims, evidence suggests that men also experience abuse
in teen dating relationships. Some studies in the Anglo-Western context
have analyzed the role of men and women as victims and as perpetrators\cite{Kaura2004}. However, it has been less explored in other
countries such as Spain. Second, psychological and relational violence
are the most common types of abuse in TDV, but they are difficult for
victims to recognize as abuse. Adolescents are aware of IPV and can
recognize it, but only when it involves physical violence. Conversely,
when composed of covert forms of abuse (i.e., economic abuse, control,
psychological), their ability diminishes \cite{m2003}. The lack of
formal knowledge of violence in intimate relationships leads to
distorted beliefs based on stereotypes (i.e., “only women suffer
abuse,” “sexual violence within a relationship does not exist”,”
there is no violence without physical aggression”). Therefore, not
experiencing prototypical forms of violence could hinder self-labeling
as a victim and thus reporting the abuse \cite{Hamby2000}.
Minimizing the severity of abuse within intimate relationships has been
associated with a greater idealization of the myths of romantic love \cite{Mart_n_Salvador_2021}.
Myths are a set of socially shared beliefs about the true nature of
love, including the existence of a soulmate, the omnipotence of love, or
the idea that love engenders pain, suffering, and sacrifice \cite{Cubells_Serra_2021}. These myths
are consistent with the media representation of romantic love, where
tragedy, pain, and the abnegation for the loved one are idealized,
promoting the romanticization of tempestuous relationships \cite{Standley_2022}. For example, 40% of adolescents consider jealousy a proof of
love, and 70% believe that love and maltreatment are compatible \cite{mujeres2011}. The acceptance of the myths of romantic love
may lead to a higher tolerance of covert abuse (e.g., controlling
behavior, verbal abuse, isolation), as adolescents interpret them as
demonstrations of love instead of violence. For instance, one in three
adolescents consider it is inevitable to control their partner’s time
under certain circumstances and to impede them from seeing their friends
and family \cite{gnero2015}.
The idealization of romantic love has been associated with a greater
difficulty in recognizing abusive experiences. Hamby and Gray-Little
(2000) found that women victims of IPV recognized abuse in other
relationships, but not on their own. Similarly, the National Survey on
Violence Against Women \cite{2021} distinguished between technical abuse
(i.e., detected by objective indicators) and self-declared abuse (i.e., described by
the victim). The results indicated that while 9.6% of women were
classified as victims according to technical indicators, only 3.6%
labeled themselves as victims. The relationship between the myths of
romantic love and the commission of abusive behavior has been thoroughly
explored. However, less is known about the relationship between the
myths and greater acceptance of abusive behavior, as it may reflect the
normalization of certain types of violence.
This paper aimed to explore the association between the acceptance of
the myths and TDV (committed and experienced). It was hypothesized that
because the origin of distorted beliefs about romantic relationships
lies in socialization, the myths equally affect boys and girls,
promoting toxic relational models where covert abuse is justified by the
mythification of romantic love.