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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: Black women are at greater risk of experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) than their nonminority counterparts, and one-fifth or more of college students are involved in IPV. Yet, there is a dearth of studies focused on Black women attending college and their experiences with IPV. Using social cognitive theory, this pilot study examines the relationship between attitudes toward IPV, racial identity, perceived mate availability, and experiences with IPV. Additionally, we investigated whether a students' perceived mate availability mediates the relationship between racial identity and IPV.
METHOD: A total of 128 Black college women (Mage = 20.28 years, SD = 1.68) who experienced at least one IPV episode in the past 12 months, participated in an online quantitative study. Participants (78.4% heterosexual) were recruited from two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and reported an average of 2.05 (SD = 1.87) IPV episodes, with a range of 1-15, in the past 12 months.
RESULTS: Favorable attitudes toward IPV were positively associated with sexual and emotional/verbal victimization among participants, and greater constrained perceived mate availability was positively associated with increased relational and emotional/verbal victimization. However, this relationship was not mediated by perceived mate availability. Racial identity was not significantly related to IPV.
CONCLUSION: The importance of focusing more empirical studies on the multifaceted context of IPV victimization and investigating important sociocultural constructs, such as perceived mate availability, relevant to the IPV experiences of young Black college women is discussed. Implications support more culturally responsive programming and outreach efforts at HBCUs and in the surrounding communities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
Language: en |