Date of Award

Summer 2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Sociology & Criminal Justice

Program/Concentration

Applied Sociology

Committee Director

Dianne Carmody

Committee Member

Scott Maggard

Committee Member

Randy Gainey

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.S62 P365 2012

Abstract

Male dominance and intimate partner violence are issues that affect many women. This study examines the relationship between religiosity and attitudes towards women and intimate partner violence. It was hypothesized that individuals with higher levels of religiosity would be more likely to hold traditional/negative attitudes towards women. It was also hypothesized that individuals with higher levels of religiosity would be more likely to be involved in a violent intimate relationship. The study used a sample of 427 students from a large urban university who were surveyed about religiosity, attitudes towards women, and intimate partner violence. The mean age of the respondents was 24.6 with most (75.6%) being female. Intimate partner violence was examined using both physical and psychological aggression questions from the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale. Bivariate and multivariate analyses indicated that those with higher levels of religiosity did hold more traditional/negative attitudes towards women. However, bivariate and multivariate

analyses indicated that there was not a statistically significant relationship between level of religiosity and likelihood of being involved in a violent intimate relationship. The fact that religiosity has a positive relationship with traditional/negative attitudes towards women indicates that the patriarchal nature of most religions may be affecting the way people think about women. While no statistically significant relationship was found between religiosity and intimate partner violence, this issue should not be ignored in future research as it is possible that the large number of women and low age of the respondents in this study skewed the results about relationship violence. Further implications for future research and theory used to guide this research are also discussed.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/p2z7-0j98

Download

Share

COinS