title: Morality and Intimate Partner Violence: Do Men in Court-Mandated Psychological Treatment Hold a Sacred Moral Vision of the World and Themselves?
abstract: This article examines the characterization of men in a court-mandated treatment for violence against their partners as holding a sacred vision of the 5 moral foundations and of their own morality. This characterization is compatible with the assumption that a sacred moral world is easily threatened by reality and that may be associated to violent defensive actions. The results from latent class analyses reveal (a) a 4-class distribution depending exclusively on the intensity with which all participants (violent and nonviolent) tend to sacralize the actions proposed in the Moral Foundations Sacredness Scale and (b) a greater prevalence of the violent participants among the classes that are more prone to sacralize. They also show that they hold an inflated moral vision of themselves: They think they are much more moral than intelligent than others who have never been charged with criminal behavior (Muhammad Ali effect).
authors.affiliation: Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: María L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Vecina
authors.forename: José C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Chacón
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D037141:Mandatory Programs; D057228:Masculinity; D008875:Middle Aged; D009014:Morals; D012649:Self Concept; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*