Internalization of the Romantic Love Myths as a Risk Factor for Gender Violence: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

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Abstract Introduction Violence against women is a global health problem, and gender violence is a multifactorial phenomenon generally attributed to the fact of living in a patriarchal culture setting. Methods A systematic review and meta-analysis conducted in the following databases: PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, LILACS, MEDES, Web of Science, CUIDEN, ENFISPO, IBECS, Dialnet and Cuidatge. Inclusion criteria: quantitative design, Spanish population, Spanish, English, Portuguese and/or French language, no time restriction and use of the Myths about Love Scale. Data was collected and analysed from July to October 2020. A total of 146 records were identifed, of which, after applying the eligibility criteria, 12 studies were included, and 6 met the criteria for the meta-analysis. The descriptive and prevalence analysis was performed by means of StatsDirect. In all the analyses, statistical signifcance was considered at p<0.05 and the CIs, at 95%. Results The most accepted myths were those related to love idealization: the eternal passion, marriage, omnipotence and perfect match myths. The least accepted myths were those of the couple, jealousy and love-maltreatment link. Men and women accepted the myths in a similar manner, although the former showed more participation in jealousy and in lovemaltreatment link. Conclusions The study contributes a current perspective about the beliefs regarding the love myths that can be a conditioning factor in love relationships and a risk factor for gender violence. The bet is on preventive education and socialization at all levels, as well as on the deconstruction of the concept of romantic love and its myths to foster healthy and egalitarian relationships.