In the presentation of the results of the study, which took place on 24 Friday November at the University, Amparo Oliver, from the Faculty of Psychology and Ángela Carbonell, researcher technician assigned to the project have also participated.

The application, articulated in interactive game format, has been tested in a total of 1,100 adolescents for two years (2016-17). Thus, the project has been divided in five phases: The first one is the initial pre-diagnosis (a pre-test); a second one is the development of the App; a third phase of gameplay; a fourth one is a post-test; and the fifth one, results and dissemination.

These results prove that the use of Liad@s App has allows for reduce sexism in teenagers and to promote prosocial attitudes against gender violence and in order to achieve equality between men and women. In addition, it has been possible to reduce in more than 1/3 of the sample the myths of romantic love that are less visible and more offensive and dangerous because they implicitly reproduce situations that recreate false ideals of love, such as: that one has to lose intimacy in love relationships; that jealousy is good to keep the flame of love burning; or the need to love and be loved or loved to reach complete happiness. 

Sexism has been also reduced between 6% and 25% in teenagers playing this app.

The teaching staff that has developed this project points out that the App has been one of the most important tools to work on affective education and equality in school. A tool for working in the classroom or in family and which have the credit of parents’ associations, teaching staff, gender equality specialists and especially of the teenagers themselves who learn from a playful side.

Working on sexism and romantic love

The objectives that have been developed with work of adolescents have been related to sexism, the perception of aggressive attitudes and the myths of romantic love. Thus, the work has been focused on identify the affective health status of adolescents; create an interactive and entertaining tool; dismantle fake myths on romantic love; prevent sexist behaviours: Hostile Sexism and Benevolent Sexism; and, finally, integrate competencies in healthy affective relationships.

The App, which is developed in an interactive game format, is articulated according to two dimensions that work on sexist attitudes. On the one hand, Theory of Ambivalent Sexism, that is to say, discrimination of people of one sex, considering it inferior to the other one (Hostile Sexism) and Protective - patriarchal positioning of the man that puts the woman in gender imbalance (Benevolent Sexism). And, on the other hand, romantic love myths, which are false ideals of what love have to be. This generate unreal expectations that instil a prototype of an "ideal" relationship and it often conditions individual freedom and positive relationships. 

Gender-based violence in adolescence

Gender-based violence in adolescence is 2/3 more frequent than in adult couples. So this is an alarming issue that hit new societies. It is appeared in a subtler way, in the form of a more possessive, obsessive and controlling love, which generate psychologic harm and the reduction of presence in socialization groups.

Recent studies such as that of the State Attorney General's Office, the CIS or the Macro-Survey of Women, report that gender-based violence in adolescents has grown by 25% during 2015 and has increased by 10.6% in 2016; therefore, it is a problem that worries both public institutions and society in general.

About Liad@s

The game is called Liad@s and it is available for Android and IOS with a rating of 4,7/5 by users. The project has been aimed at young people between 12 and 18 years, as well as trainers, educators, teachers, counsellors and parents. The participants of the project have been students from secondary school (both from urban and rural areas) and students from child care centre (also in urban and rural areas.)

Liad@s consist of a cross group of teachers and researchers of the Universitat de València with link to several areas, headed by José Javier Navarro, from the Department of Social Work and Social Services and researcher of the Institute for Local Development; Amparo Oliver, from the Department of Behavioral Sciences Methodology of the Faculty of Psychology and Pedro Morillo, from the Department of Computer Science of the school of Engineering and researcher of IRTIC; in addition to Ángela Carbonell y Jéssica Llácer researcher technicians assigned to the project.