Sex Stereotypes and Child Physical Abuse: Mediating Effects of Attitudes on Beliefs about Consequences for Abusive Parents.

This article investigates how sex stereotypes influence individuals' attitudes toward and beliefs about parents who physically abuse their children, specifically examining whether attitudes mediate the relationship between sex stereotypes and beliefs about appropriate consequences. Using scenarios that systematically varied the sex of parents and children while holding abusive behaviors constant, the study found that participants held more unfavorable attitudes toward abusive fathers than mothers and were more lenient in their beliefs about consequences for mothers. Mediation analyses indicated that sex stereotypes affected beliefs indirectly through attitudes rather than directly. The authors discuss implications for understanding public and professional misperceptions of child physical abuse, limitations related to sample and design, and suggest future research directions including the role of individual differences and more severe abuse scenarios.