Sex role attitude and perception of psychological abuse

This study focuses on the relationship between sex role attitude—traditionality and nontraditionality—and perception of psychological abuse. It was hypothesized that nontraditional women would be more adept at perceiving abuse than traditional women. Two hundred and fourteen subjects were polled using the Attitude Toward Women Scale. The 30 most traditional and 30 least traditional women were compared in terms of their reactions to vignettes depicting marital interactions. Several factors were analyzed in an attempt to explain why the nontraditional women were more sensitive in their perception of psychological abuse. Among these factors were educational level, tolerance for conflict, participation in consciousness-raising groups, psychological sophistication, and religious background.