There is currently a consensus that sexism is one of the most important causes of intimate partner violence, but this has yet to be empirically demonstrated conclusively. The key objective of the study was to adapt Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) and to validate it to the Basque language. It also aims to analyze the prevalence of violence in dating relationships and verify if ambivalent sexism in young men and women is a valid predictor of perpetration and/or victimization in their dating relationships. Ambivalent Sexism Inventory and Dating Relationship Questionnaire were administered to 1378 undergraduate students (66% women and 45% Basque), aged between 17 and 30. The psychometric properties of the Basque and Spanish versions of the ASI are deemed to be acceptable. Sufficient guarantees are provided to be used as an instrument for measuring ambivalent sexism in adult Basque speakers. Ambivalent sexism among young men and women are both positively associated with the perpetration of violence and victimization in their dating relationships. However, ambivalent sexism or two sub-types of sexism (hostile and benevolent) are not relevant risk factors to be perpetrator or victim of violence in dating relationships, due to accounting for 3% or less of variance in dating violence.

This study aimed to analyze the influence of victim-related and observer-relatedfactors in victim blaming of battered women. Two hundred and forty six collegestudents participated. They were asked to read a scenario describing ahypothetical case of physical violence perpetrated by a man against his partner.Depending on the experimental condition, the victim was described either as afeminist and/or as exhibiting difficulties in her relationship with others ornot. A hierarchical regression analysis was performed with victim blaming asdependent variable. Participants’ hostile sexism positively predictedvictim blaming when the victim was described as a feminist and as a“difficult to deal with” woman (p< .001). In addition, men, but not women, high in hostilesexist attitudes placed more blame on the victim when she was presented as afeminist woman (p < .001). These results underscorethe importance of victim-related and observer-related factors, and of theirinteraction, in blaming the victim of gender-based violence.

The existence of domestic violence is closely linked to several ideological factors that include sexism and other beliefs about society in general, namely the belief in a just world. In this study, which involved 485 people of both sexes aged between 18 and 70 years, we analyzed the influence of these ideological variables of the perceivers and characteristics of the situation on judgments of a gender aggression – blaming the victim and exonerating the perpetrator. Results showed differences in the reactions of observers depending on the cause that triggered the aggression. Participants blamed the victim and exonerated the aggressor more when no cause of the aggression was mentioned than when a cause was mentioned (the woman wanted to separate, to see an old male friend, or simply to take a trip with her female friends). We also found clear effects of hostile sexism and just world beliefs on the dependent variables. Results showed that the influence of just world beliefs depended on the fact of mention or not a cause for the aggression.