The myths of romantic love and gender violence, understanding in order to act

Abstract

Romantic love myths are irrational socially constructed beliefs about the nature of love, what are the desirable characteristics when selecting a partner, the importance of love, expectations for the future and the type of relationship, can help us to understand the internalisation of these romantic love myths that only foster patriarchal hegemony and gender inequalities. The presence of these romantic beliefs favours or maintains intimate partner violence and control-based relationships, which are related to lower self-esteem. 

These myths, which are irrational beliefs, reinforce intimate partner violence and contribute to its maintenance once it occurs. The objectives of this review are to analyse and deepen the knowledge obtained about the myths of romantic love in relation to gender violence, as well as to collect some of the proposals developed for the prevention of this specific form of violence