Summary: The growth of the internet and social media has given rise to a specific form of dating abuse known as cyber-violence. This type of abuse includes online acts of control, humiliation, intimidation and threats directed at a partner or ex-partner.
A recent study highlights that certain beliefs—romantic love myths, jealousy and especially sexist attitudes—help explain why cyber-violence occurs. Understanding these beliefs is essential for preventing abuse and promoting healthier online relationships.
Key Facts:
- Cyber-violence refers to digital dating abuse such as unauthorized sharing of intimate images, cyberstalking and sustained online harassment.
- Some young people mistakenly interpret controlling or aggressive behaviors as signs of true love or strong commitment.
- Romantic myths, jealousy and sexist beliefs have been identified as key factors associated with the perpetration of cyber-violence.
Source: Neuroscience News
As romantic relationships move increasingly into the digital sphere, the potential for online abuse grows. Cyber-violence captures a range of online behaviors used to control, humiliate or intimidate partners, and its effects on mental health and wellbeing—especially among young people—can be severe.
This article summarizes research that examined how certain beliefs about relationships contribute to cyber-violence. The study focused on romantic love myths (idealized but unrealistic beliefs about love), jealousy and sexist attitudes, and explored how these beliefs relate to both victimization and perpetration of online abuse.
Dating violence has traditionally included physical, psychological and sexual aggression within intimate relationships. In the digital age, many of these behaviors migrate online: intimate images shared without consent, persistent monitoring of a partner’s social activity, and public shaming or trolling are all forms of cyber-violence. Such behaviors can produce lasting emotional damage and social consequences for victims.
Why are younger people particularly at risk? The study suggests that cultural narratives about romance can normalize or even glamorize possessive and intense behavior. When myths portray love as all-consuming or inherently jealous, controlling actions can be misread as proof of affection. In the context of social media, something as simple as a comment, a like from a stranger, or a tagged photo can trigger jealous reactions that escalate into online harassment or surveillance.
The research found distinct roles for the beliefs it studied. Jealousy was associated with both being a target of cyber-violence (cyber-victimization) and with perpetrating online harassment. Sexist beliefs—attitudes that limit or devalue gender expression and reinforce unequal power dynamics—were more directly tied to perpetration. In practice, sexist attitudes can fuel misogynistic trolling and targeted online abuse, often directed at women.
Romantic love myths showed a more complex pattern. While these myths can create fertile ground for abusive behaviors by normalizing possessiveness, the study suggested they had only a limited protective effect against victimization in the specific sample analyzed. In other words, myths about love may help explain some tolerances or justifications for abusive behavior, but they do not fully account for who becomes a victim.
The authors note important limitations: the study relied on self-reported data, which can be affected by social desirability bias, and the sample had a higher proportion of women, which may influence the results. Nonetheless, the findings underline the importance of addressing beliefs about love, jealousy and gender in any prevention strategy.
Practical implications include promoting critical media literacy about romantic myths, teaching healthy jealousy management, and challenging sexist norms that legitimize online aggression. Education programs aimed at young people should emphasize boundaries, consent for sharing images, respectful communication online, and strategies for responding safely to harassment.
By identifying the social and cognitive drivers of cyber-violence, policymakers, educators and mental health professionals can design better interventions to reduce online dating abuse and support victims. Addressing underlying attitudes—rather than focusing only on isolated incidents—offers a more durable path toward safer, healthier relationships in the digital age.
About this psychology and interpersonal relationship violence research news
Author: Neuroscience News Communications
Source: Neuroscience News
Contact: Neuroscience News Communications – Neuroscience News
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Original Research: Open access.
“Jealousy, sexism, and romantic love myths: the role of beliefs in online dating violence” by Felipe Ponce-Correa et al. Frontiers in Psychology
Abstract
Jealousy, sexism, and romantic love myths: the role of beliefs in online dating violence
With the widespread adoption of the internet and social networks, a form of dating violence known as cyber-violence has emerged; it covers behaviors of control, humiliation, intimidation and threats towards a partner or ex-partner.
Using a non-probabilistic sample of 1,001 participants aged 18 to 25 years, the study employed an ex post facto, retrospective, cross-sectional, single-group design to analyze how beliefs related to dating violence—romantic love myths, jealousy and sexism—affect cyber-victimization and cyber-harassment perpetration.
Results indicated that jealousy is involved in both cyber-victimization and cyber-harassment perpetration, while sexist beliefs are associated primarily with perpetration.
The discussion suggests that cyber-violence relates more to the likelihood of committing aggression than to the likelihood of being a victim. The paper also outlines limitations and proposes directions for future research.