The effect of system justification and regulatory focus orientation in the endorsement of honor and honor based violence

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Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi, Psikoloji Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2016

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Öğrenci: GÜLÇİN AKBAŞ USLU

Danışman: Nuray Sakallı Uğurlu

Özet:

The aim of this study was to explore the association between System Justification Theory (SJT), Regulatory Focus Theory (RFT), honor endorsement (HE) and attitudes towards honor based violence against women (ATHRV). In some cultures, honor is associated with women’s sexual purity. The obsession with honor leads to domination and control of women. Besides, women who are thought to spoil their honor are exposed to violence that can result in death. RFT offers two distinct orientations to self-regulation: promotion and prevention focus. One of the main assumptions of RFT is that dominant promotion focus is concerned with ideals and dominant prevention focus is concerned with oughts. SJT suggests that people have a motivation to justify the system even at the expense of ego and group justification needs. People tend to justify traditional gender roles and believe that women deserve what they get. It can be argued that prevention focused self-regulation can play a significant role in the justification of honor and honor related violence. Specifically, through three studies this research aimed to show whether SJT and RFT are linked to honor and interact with each other in predicting HE, ATHRV, and implicit outcomes associated with honor. Study I (N = 553) developed and established a valid scale of Honor System Justification (HSJ). Study II (N = 366) tested this scale and demonstrated that prevention focus plays a role in understanding HE and ATHRV. HSJ was also associated with honor and mediated the relationship between prevention focus and HE and ATHRV. Study III (N = 214) employed two additional implicit measures. HSJ mediated the relationship between regulatory focus and HE and ATHRV. Moreover, participants showed implicit support for honor. Through three studies, a new perspective was provided to literature to understand positive attitudes towards honor and prevent honor based violence against women. Findings of the studies were discussed in the light of relevant literature.