College Students’ Definitions of Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Although a large number of studies have been conducted worldwide to examine various aspects of intimate partner violence (IPV), comparative study of people’s views on such violence in Chinese societies has been scarce. Using survey data collected from more than 850 college students in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, this study specifically assessed the impact of attitudes toward gender role and violence, personal and vicarious experience, demographic characteristics, and locality on students’ definitions of IPV. The Taiwanese students were most likely to define a broader range of abusive behavior as IPV, followed by Hong Kong and Beijing students. Gender role and violence attitudes appeared to be most important predictors of IPV definitions. College students who supported the notion of male dominance were more likely to have a narrower definition of IPV, whereas those who viewed domestic violence as crime were more inclined to have a broader definition of IPV. Implications for future research and policy were discussed.

Keywords

domestic violence intimate partner violence gender role culture attitudes

Introduction

Intimate partner violence (IPV), which commonly refers to psychological, physical, or sexual harm inflicted by a current or former partner or spouse, has become a widespread global problem among all cultural, socio-economic, and religious groups (World Health Organization, 2012). In the United States, for instance, more than 12 million women and men are victims of IPV annually and nearly 3 in 10 women and 1 in 10 men experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by a partner or spouse in 2010 (Black et al., 2011). The pervasiveness of domestic violence, including IPV and violence against women (VAW), children, and elderly, has directly triggered a substantial amount of research efforts devoted to analyzing various aspects of the problem, such as the prevalence, characteristics, causes, and effects associated with such violence (e.g., Fanslow, Robinson, Crengle, & Perese, 2010; Jewkes, 2002; Lanier & Maume, 2009; Lee & Hadeed, 2009; Nabors & Jasinski, 2009; Schumacher, Feldbau-Kohn, Slep, & Heyman, 2001; Stith, Smith, Penn, Ward, & Tritt, 2004; Straus, 2004; Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000).

This study focused on examining Chinese college students’ attitudes toward IPV. We specifically assessed whether college students in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan differed in their definitions of IPV or recognitions of certain types of behaviors as violence. Similar to Western democracies, Chinese societies have also witnessed the burgeoning of research on the prevalence of domestic violence (R. Chen, 1999; Leung, Leung, Lam, & Ho, 1999; Tang, 1999; X. Wang, 1999; Xu et al., 2005) and the risk factors of and official responses to domestic violence (Chan, Brownridge, Tiwari, Fong, & Leung, 2008; Hu, 2003; P. Wang, 2003). Nonetheless, less than a handful of studies have comparatively analyzed public perceptions of domestic violence across three Chinese societies (Sun et al., 2012; Tang, Cheung, Chen, & Sun, 2002; Tang, Wong, Cheung, & Lee, 2000).

A study of public definitions of IPV in general and a comparative assessment of such attitudes across Chinese societies in particular is imperative for at least two reasons. First, research has shown that attitudes supporting or justifying violence are closely related to IPV perpetration (Anderson, Simpson-Taylor, & Hermann, 2004; Berkel, Vandiver, & Bahner, 2004; Fanslow et al., 2010; Murnen, Wright, & Kaluzny, 2002; Nabors, Dietz, & Jasinski, 2006; Schumacher et al., 2001; Shen, Chui, & Gao, 2012; Stith et al., 2004) and responses to violence by victims, people around them, and social service providers (Bui & Morash, 2008; García-Moreno, Jansen, Ellsberg, Heise, & Watts, 2005; Lee & Hadeed, 2009; Saunders & Size, 1986). There appears to be a correspondence between IPV attitudes and violent behavior and societal response. By focusing on how IPV is defined among college students, this study can generate important implications for designing and implementing public policies and programs to effectively enhance crime prevention, victim assistance, and public health.

Second, China has become a critical player on the world stage. An investigation of IPV definitions in Chinese societies is practically and theoretically interesting as mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are currently at different stages of tackling such violence. Indeed, the Great China Region provides a unique social laboratory for studying IPV because these societies share some commonalities in cultural heritages and interpersonal relationships, but also vary from one another in such areas as economic conditions, political polity, modernization process, legal development, and gender relations. For instance, in mainland China, the concept of domestic violence was not officially discussed until the fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 (Sun et al., 2012). A comprehensive national law on and effective official response to domestic violence are largely absent. In Hong Kong and Taiwan, the rule of law tradition is relatively stronger, and formal laws and specific guidelines for law enforcement and social services agencies have been in place for more than two decades. Meanwhile, the popular Chinese belief that IPV is a private matter, coupled with the legacy of extensive patriarchal tradition and reliance on informal social control, may continue to influence people’s acceptance of certain actions as violence in Greater China. Therefore, comparing and contrasting the three societies can advance our understanding of the important role that social, cultural, and legal context plays in molding public attitudes toward violence.

We used survey data collected from college students in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei to assess variations in definitions of IPV and factors influencing such attitudinal orientations. Specifically, this study was guided by the following three questions:

Research Question 1 (RQ1): Do Chinese college students in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei differ in their recognition of abusive behaviors as IPV?

Research Question 2 (RQ2): What factors affect college students’ definitions of IPV?

Research Question 3 (RQ3): Are Chinese students’ definitions of IPV affected by distinctive or similar sets of variables across three societies?

IPV in Chinese Societies

IPV has surfaced as a noticeable social problem in mainland China (Parish, Wang, Laumann, Pan, & Luo, 2004; Xu, Campbell, & Zhu, 2001), Hong Kong (Tang, 1994, 1999), and Taiwan (R. Chen, 1999; P. Wang, 2003). In a recent study, Hou, Yu, Ting, Yee, and Fang (2011) found that the rates for psychological, physical, and sexual violence were 50%, 20% to 30%, and 15% to 20%, respectively, among 194 couples in Beijing over a 4-month period. Based on data collected from a gynecology clinic in a large city in southern China, researchers reported that 43% of the women surveyed reported having been physically or sexually abused by their partners (Xu et al., 2005). Similar to the patterns in Western, IPV was particularly prevalent among certain Chinese groups, with 17.4% of prenatal and postnatal women, 33% of college students, and 39% of teenagers with dating experience suffering from such violence (Chan, Liu, Choi, & Zhu, 2010; J. Chen & Chen, 2009; Shen et al., 2012; Ye et al., 2005).

In Hong Kong, the reported cases of spousal abuse tripled over a period of 9 years, rising from 2,321 in 2000 to 6,843 in 2008. Among these cases, 80% involved female victims and 60% involved physical abuse (Social Welfare Department, 2009). A territory-wide survey of spouse abuse found that 13.9% of respondents were battered and 6.9% were sexually coerced by their spouses (Chan, 2005). In Taiwan, a steady increase of domestic violence incidents has been observed in recent years, increasing from 21,572 cases in 2000 to 25,396 in 2008 (National Police Agency, 2010). A survey of respondents between 15 and 64 years old indicated that the lifetime prevalence rate of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse among couples was 5.7%, 12.8%, and 1.3%, respectively (P. Wang, 2003).

China does not have a national law dealing specifically with domestic violence (Sun, Su, & Wu, 2011). Legal protection for victims of domestic violence is primarily prescribed in the Marriage Law of the People’s Republic of China. The law was originally promulgated in 1980, and its 2001 amendment coined the term domestic violence in law for the first time (Zhang & Lee, 2003). While Article 43 of the law specifically requires police officers to stop violence at the request of the victim and administratively punish the wrongdoer, police officers seldom use this power against offenders of domestic violence (W. Liu, 2001). Like their American counterparts before the 1980s, Chinese police do not actively intervene in domestic violence incidents today. Many officers regard domestic violence as a private matter and do not consider dealing with domestic conflict as a part of police responsibilities and often refuse to accept or process victims’ complaints. Police typically only start criminal investigation when severe injury or death is involved (Hu, 2003).

In Hong Kong, a multi-agency approach involving professionals from health, social, and legal services is preferred in handling domestic violence incidents (Sun, Li, & Wu, 2011). The role and tasks of these relevant professionals are clearly delineated in the 2004 Procedural Guidelines for Handling Battered Spouse Cases (Working Group on Combating Violence, 2004), which, among others, furnish clear specifications on responding officers’ gender, requiring that, whenever practicable, two police officers, one of each gender, should attend the scene. The guidelines also require officers to give the alleged offender and/or the victim a copy of the Family Support Service Information Card, which contains the contact information of legal aid departments and social service agencies. In addition, the card is used for obtaining the consent from parties for referral to the Family and Child Protection Service Units of the Social Welfare Department. In some occasions, police officers can make referrals without consent from the victim and/or offender. Follow-up visits by police, if necessary, shall be arranged. Obviously, police officers in Hong Kong are expected to proactively respond to domestic violence.

In Taiwan, the Domestic Violence Prevention and Control Act (DVPCA) was passed in 1999, the first law of this kind in the region of Asia (Sun & Chu, 2010). The purpose of DVPCA is to coordinate and enhance law enforcement’s response to this historically ignored issue and to provide better protection for domestic violence victims (M. Chen, 2001). Resembling the Hong Kong approach, DVPCA requires various governmental agencies, such as social services, police, prosecutors and courts, public health, education, and household registration, to carry out certain responsibilities and work collectively to address domestic violence. DVPCA requires police to take more aggressive actions, such as arresting serious offenders, filing case reports, and helping victims apply for protection orders against offenders.

Factors Shaping Definitions of IPV

This study assessed the effects of four groups of variables, including attitudes toward gender role and violence, personal and vicarious experience, background characteristics and locality, on college students’ definitions of IPV. We provided a brief review of relevant literature in the following sections.

Gender Role and Violence Attitudes

Public perceptions of appropriate scopes of IPV may be closely linked to social attitudes toward gender roles and violence. Despite their apparent relevance, this group of attitudinal factors has received very little research attention. Some limited evidence exists showing the linkage between attitudes toward male dominance and perceptions of or preferences for domestic violence. For example, women were found to be less likely than men to support male-dominant relationships and thus more likely to believe that husbands’ use of violence was intentional and unjustifiable in domestic violence incidents (Stalans & Finn, 2006). American and Chinese college students who favored the notion of male dominance preferred traditional police intervention to domestic violence (Sun, Su, & Wu, 2011).

Along the same vein of reasoning, public attitudes toward gender equality in society and domestic violence as crime could shape their definitions of IPV. A recent study found that American college students who endorsed the notion of gender equality were less likely to support proactive police response to domestic violence, but both Chinese and American students who viewed domestic violence as crime-favored proactive police intervention (Sun, Su, & Wu, 2011). Perceptions of domestic violence as crime were connected to preference for proactive police response to such violence among Chinese college students in Beijing and Taipei (Sun et al., 2012).

Personal and Vicarious Experiences

Previous studies revealed that those who had experienced or witnessed IPV were more inclined to endorse IPV-supportive attitudes (García-Moreno et al., 2005; Markowitz, 2001; Speizer, 2010). A comprehensive review of literature, however, showed that the causal mechanism between experiencing or witnessing violence and supportive attitudes toward violence might be complicated, with prior experiences of violence leading to both violence-supportive and violence-intolerant attitudes (Flood & Pease, 2009). Similar to witnessing or experiencing violence, knowing victims or arrestees of IPV may also influence people’s definitions of IPV. Sun, Su, and Wu (2011), for example, reported that American college students who know previous IPV arrestees favored proactive rather than traditional police response to domestic violence.

Two other factors that may affect public definitions of IPV are crime victimization and romantic relationships. Crime victims tend to hold more punitive attitudes toward offenders; thus, they may also consider a broader range of abusive behaviors as IPV. Among Chinese college students, those who had experience with romantic relationships were more likely to support proactive police response to domestic violence (Sun, Su, & Wu, 2011). Yet another study of Chinese and American college students found that romantic experience was not linked to personal preference for either law enforcement or social services intervention to IPV (Wu, Button, Smolter, & Poteyeva, 2013).

Background Characteristics

Chinese college students’ definitions of IPV may be affected by their demographic characteristics, such as gender, socio-economic status (SES), and place of origin. For example, one would expect that women are more likely than men to hold broader definitions of IPV because they are less violent-prone and the majority of domestic violence victims are female. Indeed, gender difference in attitudes toward IPV has been reported in studies of Chinese populations, with women professionals in Hong Kong holding broader definitions of VAW (Tang, Wong, & Cheung, 2002). Another study, however, found that female college students in Beijing displayed more supportive attitudes toward traditional police response (Sun et al., 2012).

One may also speculate that people with higher levels of SES are more inclined to show a greater level of acceptance of behavior as abuse. Tang, Cheung, Chen et al., (2002) found higher educational attainment led to broader definitions of VAW among professionals in Hong Kong, whereas family SES was weakly related to college students’ preference for police response to domestic violence in all three Chinese societies (Sun et al., 2012).

Urban residents may display greater acceptance to a wider range of behavior as IPV than rural residents because they are more likely to invoke the formal criminal justice system or utilize help-seeking resources to settle interpersonal conflict (Shannon, Logan, Cole, & Medley, 2006). Similar to SES, place of origin is under-researched in past studies, but it may be of great interest to scholars due to the significant urban/rural division and difference in China. Rural residents in mainland China were found to show a higher degree of acceptance of family violence and to be less inclined than urban residents to report such incidents or recognize that such incidents were crime (Cao, 2006; also see M. Liu & Chan, 1999, and Zhao, Guo, Wang, Wu, & Wang, 2006). Similarly, female Chinese college students originally from rural areas were less likely to condone use of physical violence and forced sex against women than their counterparts from urban areas (Hester, 2005). Chinese college students who grew up in urban and rural areas, however, did not differ in their preference for police response to domestic violence (Sun et al., 2012).

Locality

Albeit still small in number, a few studies found differences in attitudes toward IPV across Chinese societies. In their study of service professionals in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, Tang, Cheung, et al., (2002) found that professionals in China tended to hold more traditional views of women and agree with a narrower definition of VAW, whereas professionals in Taiwan tended to display more liberal gender attitudes and accept a broader definition of VAW, with those in Hong Kong falling in between. In another study, Tang, Wong, and Cheung (2002) examined conceptions of women as legitimate victims of violence using focus group data collected from residents in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Participants in Taiwan and Hong Kong were more sensitive toward the occurrence of VAW and used a richer vocabulary in describing the causes of VAW, while participants in China were less open in expressing their opinions on VAW and tended to support shared responsibility (between women and men) explanations of causes of VAW. Sun and colleagues (2012) found that Hong Kong college students showed the highest level of support for traditional police response to domestic violence, whereas college students in Taipei displayed the strongest preference for proactive police response.

Method

Research Project and Sites

This study analyzed data collected by the second phase of the International Project of Attitudes Toward Criminal Justice (IPACJ). The primary purpose of the IPACJ was to compare and contrast college students’ attitudes toward various aspects of IPV in China and the United States. The project involved a team of researchers based in several Chinese and American universities, who were responsible for data collection conducted between 2009 and 2010.

This study focused on the IPACJ data gathered from three Chinese universities in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei. The university in Beijing is a nationally ranked, public school with a student body of approximately 20,000 from all over the country. With a history of over 100 years, it is one of the oldest and top universities in China. The university in Hong Kong is a public higher education institution, which has a relatively short history but has experienced rapid expansion since 1980s. Most of its 20,000 students are local residents, but its non-local population, made up primarily by mainland Chinese, has doubled since 2005, reaching about 9% of the total student population. The university in Taipei is also a public school with a history of approximately 60 years. More than 5,700 students from all over the island are currently enrolled at the university.

Data Collection and Samples

An identical survey instrument containing approximately 100 items was developed in both simplified Chinese (for students in mainland China) and traditional Chinese (for students in Hong Kong and Taiwan). The surveys were pre-tested on a small number of students in all sample universities in the summer and fall of 2009 to ensure the validity of the measurements and the understandability of all questions to college students. The survey questionnaire was then administered to students at the three universities during the fall of 2009 and 2010.

Survey data were garnered through undergraduate courses offered at sample colleges.¹ With the permission and assistance from faculty members in their academic units, the IPACJ researchers distributed and collected the surveys from students in classrooms. The purpose of the survey was introduced to students with an emphasis on the complete voluntary and confidential nature of participation. Students were also assured that non-participation would not adversely affect their performance in these classes. The average time for students to complete the survey was about 15 to 20 min.

The classroom setting facilitated high response rates in all research sites. In Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei, 450, 320, and 360 surveys were distributed and 342, 310, and 328 were returned, respectively. Unusable surveys and cases with missing data were dropped from the analysis, forming a final study sample of 861 students, including 318 students from Beijing, 288 from Hong Kong, and 255 from Taipei.² Among them, 588 (68.3%) were female and 273 (31.7%) were male. An analysis of the data indicated that there were virtually no differences between respondents included and excluded in the sample.³ The exclusion thus did not confound the results in any significant way.

Measures

A total of 33 survey items were used to construct variables for this study. The dependent variable in this study is college students’ definitions or degree of acceptance of IPV. The survey instrument consisted of a series of items that allowed us to conceptually classify them into three categories of IPV, including psychological aggression (e.g., giving belittling comments, threatening, and destructing property), physical assault (e.g., hitting and throwing objects), and sexual coercion (e.g., forcing sexual intercourse; see Bogat, Levendosky, & von Eye, 2005; Straus, 2004). These items were developed based principally on the revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2) proposed by Straus, Hamby, Boney-McCoy, and Sugarman (1996). Respondents were asked whether they consider a certain act committed by a date or partner as abuse (see Table 1 for a list of these items). Response categories ranged from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (4). We performed principal components factor analysis on 17 items to assess whether Chinese college students’ acceptance of IPV could be statistically distinguished along three types of IPV. The results showed that all items loaded highly onto one factor (eigenvalue = 10.07), which explained 60% of the variance (see Table 1). An additive scale of all 17 items was constructed to indicate college students’ levels of acceptance of IPV. The scale had a strong internal reliability, registering a Cronbach’s alpha of .96.

Table 1.

Factor Analysis of the Dependent Variable.

Survey Items: If a Date or a Partner Did the Following, It Is Abuse	Factor Loading	Cronbach’s Alpha
Psychological aggression		.96
Called names, insulted, swore at, or treated disrespectfully	.74
Threatened to physically hurt	.82
Threatened suicide if partner wants to leave	.76
Frequently threatened to leave or divorce partner	.84
Searched through or destroyed/damaged partner’s things	.81
Followed when she or he doesn’t know it	.82
Threatened to stop providing financial support	.80
Did or said something to spite partner	.77
Hurt or killed partner’s pet(s)	.79
Does not allow partner to visit/talk with family or friends	.75
Physical assault
Held down/physically restrained	.55
Hit or slapped or punched	.83
Pushed/shoved/grabbed/kicked	.77
Twisted partner’s arm or bent fingers back	.72
Used weapon (knife or gun) against partner	.80
Threw objects at partner	.68
Sexual coercion
Forced sex or sexual activities	.80

The independent variables are divided into four groups: attitudes toward gender role and violence, personal and vicarious experiences, background characteristics, and locality. Three variables were constructed to indicate respondents’ gender-role- and violence-related attitudes. The first scale, male dominance, was derived from the summation of four items: “Sons in a family should be encouraged more than daughters to go to college,” “There are many jobs in which men should be given preference over women,” “A father should have more authority than a mother when bringing up children,” and “A woman should not expect to go to the same places or have the same freedom as men” (strongly disagree = 1, strongly agree = 4). The scale had an acceptable Cronbach’s alpha of .65. A greater value of the scale suggested greater support for male dominance. The second scale, gender equality, was generated by summing three items: “Discrimination against women is no longer a problem in the China/Hong Kong/Taiwan,” “Society has reached the point where women and men have equal opportunities for achievement,” and “It is difficult to understand why women’s groups are still concerned about societal limitations of women’s opportunities” (strongly disagree = 1, strongly agree = 4). The scale carried a Cronbach’s alpha of .67, suggesting acceptable internal consistency. A higher value of the scale reflects greater perceived gender equality in society. A single item was used to assess respondents’ beliefs that IPV should be regarded as a crime. Respondents were asked whether they agreed that “IPV should be viewed as a crime” (strongly disagree = 1, strongly agree = 4).

Personal and vicarious experiences were measured through four dummy variables reflecting experience with crime and romantic relationship and knowledge of IPV victims and offenders. Respondents were asked, “Have you been a victim of crime?” “Have you ever had a romantic relationship that lasted more than 2 weeks?” “Do you know anyone who has been a victim of IPV?” and “Do you know anyone who has been arrested for IPV?” Positive responses to these questions were coded 1.

Background characteristics included gender, family SES, and area where respondent had grown up. Gender and grown-up area were coded as dummy variables with 1 representing female and urban area. Family SES was a factor of three items: father’s and mother’s highest levels of education (from 1 = illiteracy to 7 = graduate or professional degrees) and household (parents) income. Household income measures included three sets of eight categories that were appropriate for and equivalent among the three Chinese societies considering the average income and consumption levels in the areas. Factor analysis confirmed that the construction of the SES factor was proper. The three items loaded onto a factor with an eigenvalue of 1.81 that explained 60% of the variance. The last group, locality, consisted of a set of dummy variables to represent the three research sites: Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei. Beijing was treated as the comparison group in the regression analysis. Table 2 displays the descriptive statistics for all variables used in this study.

Table 2.

Descriptive Statistics for All Variables.

Variables	Whole (n = 851)			Beijing (n = 318)			Hong Kong (n = 288)			Taipei (n = 255)
Variables	M	SD	Range	M	SD	Range	M	SD	Range	M	SD	Range
Dependent variables
IPV definition	49.38	11.75	17-68	44.83	10.66	17-68	49.45	9.04	18-68	54.99	13.25	17-68
Independent variables
Gender role/violence attitudes
Male dominance	6.30	1.68	3-12	6.77	1.73	3-12	6.41	1.47	3-12	5.60	1.63	3-12
Gender equality	7.17	1.65	3-12	6.56	1.83	3-12	7.60	1.40	3-12	7.47	1.46	3-12
DV as crime	3.21	0.80	1-4	2.90	0.87	1-4	3.40	0.67	1-4	3.40	0.72	1-4
Personal/vicarious experience
Know DV victims	0.29	0.45	0-1	0.30	0.46	0-1	0.18	0.39	0-1	0.39	0.49	0-1
Know DV arrests	0.11	0.32	0-1	0.05	0.22	0-1	0.03	0.17	0-1	0.29	0.46	0-1
Had romantic relationship	0.60	0.49	0-1	0.68	0.47	0-1	0.63	0.48	0-1	0.45	0.50	0-1
Crime victims	0.06	0.23	0-1	0.08	0.27	0-1	0.03	0.18	0-1	0.05	0.21	0-1
Background characteristics
Female	0.68	0.47	0-1	0.71	0.45	0-1	0.64	.48	0-1	0.70	0.46	0-1
Family SES	0.00	1.00	−2.52-2.46	0.18	1.01	−2.52-2.46	−0.52	0.81	−2.52-2.21	0.36	0.94	−1.69-2.46
Grown-up urban area	0.61	0.49	0-1	0.54	0.50	0-1	0.64	0.48	0-1	0.67	0.47	0-1
Locality
Beijing	0.37	0.48	0-1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Hong Kong	0.33	0.47	0-1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Taipei	0.30	0.46	0-1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Note. IPV = intimate partner violence; DV = domestic violence; SES = socio-economic status.

Results

The mean scores shown in Table 2 provide answers to our first research question about whether Chinese college students in three societies differ in their recognitions of abusive behaviors as IPV. With a mean score of 54.99, college students in Taiwan showed the broadest definition of IPV, followed by students in Hong Kong (M = 49.45) and Beijing (M = 44.83). The F values associated with the one-way ANOVA for the dependent variable (not shown in Table 2) confirmed that the attitudinal differences between students across any two Chinese groups were statistically significant at the .05 level.⁴

Table 3 demonstrates the result from multivariate regression analyses. We first estimated the impact of all independent variables using the entire sample, which addressed our second research question about factors influencing IPV definitions. Two gender role and violence attitudinal variables are significant predictors of definitions of IPV. College students who supported the idea of male dominance tended to have a narrower definition of IPV, whereas those who viewed domestic violence as crime were more inclined to have a broader definition of IPV. None of the variables representing personal and vicarious experience and demographic variables were significantly related to IPV definitions. Both locality variables achieved statistical significance. Consistent with findings from the mean comparisons, college students in Hong Kong and Taiwan displayed a greater level of acceptance of certain behavior as IPV than their counterparts in China. Using Hong Kong as the reference group, additional analysis showed that students in Taiwan were more likely to classify certain actions as IPV than their counterparts in Hong Kong. All independent variables together explain 16% of the variation in IPV definitions.

Table 3.

Multiple Regression Summary of IPV Definition.

		Separate Samples
Variables	Whole Sample	Beijing	Hong Kong	Taipei
Gender role and violence attitudes
Male dominance	−.10* (0.25)	−.23*** (0.49)	−.03 (0.38)	−.06 (0.56)
Gender equality	−.04 (0.25)	−.01 (0.38)	.08 (0.40)	−.14* (0.60)
DV as crime	.14*** (0.50)	.19*** (0.68)	.15** (0.84)	.07 (1.16)
Personal and vicarious experience
Know DV victims	−.00 (0.93)	.00 (1.29)	.06 (1.50)	−.03 (2.40)
Know DV arrests	−.03 (1.46)	.07 (2.90)	−.00 (4.44)	.05 (2.67)
Had romantic relationship	−.00 (0.77)	.08 (1.24)	−.08 (1.14)	−.01 (1.73)
Crime victims	.03 (1.75)	.07 (2.31)	−.03 (3.92)	.02 (4.20)
Demographic characteristics
Female	.01 (0.82)	−.07 (1.31)	.06 (1.14)	.08 (1.97)
Family SES	.01 (0.41)	−.06 (0.63)	.08 (0.69)	−.01 (0.92)
Grown-up urban area	.03 (0.80)	.06 (1.31)	.00 (1.15)	.03 (1.80)
Locality
Hong Kong	.15*** (1.02)	—	—	—
Taipei	.31*** (1.10)	—	—	—
R ²	.16	.12	.05	.05
n	861	313	283	255

Note. Entries are standardized regression coefficients with standard errors in parentheses. IPV = intimate partner violence; DV = domestic violence; SES = socio-economic status.

p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

We conducted further regression analysis using three separate samples to assess whether college students’ definitions of IPV were affected by distinctive or similar sets of variables across three Chinese societies. As in the full sample analysis, attitudes toward gender role and violence continued to be most predictive of IPV definitions, whereas personal and vicarious experience and background characteristics remained ineffective. In China, those who supported the notion of male dominance tended to have a narrower definition of IPV. In both China and Hong Kong, students who perceive domestic violence as crime were more likely to have a broader definition of IPV. The third attitudinal variable, gender equality, exerted a significant effect on Taiwanese students’ recognitions of IPV. Those who are with higher perceived levels of gender equality in society displayed a narrower definition of IPV.

Discussion

This study focused on college students’ views on IPV in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. We specifically assessed factors influencing college students’ definitions of IPV and possible variations in such predictors across three societies. Three major findings arose. First, significant variations were found among college students in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei in terms of actions that should be regarded as IPV. The Taiwanese students were most likely to define a broader range of abusive behavior as IPV, followed by Hong Kong and Beijing students. This finding confirms the results from previous studies showing that Taiwanese service professionals tended to accept a broader definition of VAW (Tang, Cheung, et al., 2002) and Taiwanese college students preferred proactive police intervention to domestic violence (Sun et al., 2012), compared with their counterparts in China and Hong Kong.

A broader definition of IPV held by the Taiwanese students may be attributed to recent social developments in Taiwan. As aforementioned, Taiwan has enacted the first domestic violence law in Asia that has greatly strengthened official response to such incidents. Law enforcement, social service, and medical professionals are most recommended to take aggressive actions against IPV perpetrators and furnish better services to victims. This progressiveness of the Taiwanese laws and practice, together with the women’s rights movement and political and public pressure, may have contributed to a better understanding of domestic violence as a crime, lower levels of tolerance of domestic violence, and broader definitions of IPV.

If there is a close relationship between social and legal developments and public opinions on domestic violence, then it is not a complete surprise to see why college students in China tended to have a narrower definition of IPV. Compared with Taiwan and Hong Kong, China is clearly lagging behind Taiwan and Hong Kong in official response to domestic violence, including IPV. A direct, systematic law controlling domestic violence is lacking. Neither is a coherent governmental response in place. Such lax and slipshod ways of dealing with domestic violence may positively reinforce the acceptance of a broader range of abusive behavior among the public in general and intimate partners in particular. Although our data do not permit us to assess this potential linkage, it appears that college students in Beijing were more likely to hold onto traditional Chinese values and norms than their counterparts in Hong Kong and Taipei, which is evident in a higher mean score for the notion of male dominance and a lower one for domestic violence as crime associated with them (see Table 2). Future research, perhaps utilizing in-depth interviews, should examine the connection between developments in policy and practice and public perceptions of domestic violence.

Second, in addition to regional influences, attitudes toward gender role and violence are the most important predictors of Chinese students’ definitions of IPV. College students who supported the mentality of male dominance were more likely to have a narrower definition of IPV, whereas those who viewed domestic violence as crime were more inclined to have a broader definition of IPV. These findings echo the results from previous studies showing the importance of gender role attitudes in predicting domestic violence-related beliefs (Sun et al., 2012; Tang, Cheung, et al., 2002). The existing evidence thus clearly suggests that Chinese students’ definitions of IPV are apparently not stand-alone phenomena but are highly intertwined with relevant social attitudes. Therefore, public perceptions of IPV could be indicative of one’s attitudinal orientations of critical social issues. Given that only a small number of studies have actually analyzed this association, future research should continue to include variables reflecting social attitudes in assessing public perceptions of IPV.

Finally, Chinese students in three societies were relatively homogeneous in terms of the type of factors influencing their recognitions of IPV. All three groups were influenced by a similar set of variables—attitudes toward gender role and violence. Nonetheless, the effects of these attitudinal variables are not consistent across the three societies. For instance, the variable male dominance only influenced Beijing students’ definitions, and it did not have any impact on the Hong Kong and Taiwan samples. Gender equality affected Taiwanese students’ views on IPV, but not Beijing and Hong Kong students’ views on IPV. These findings reveal the congruence and incongruence in factors shaping IPV-related attitudes among Chinese students in different societies. Future studies need to take the complexity of attitudinal propensities into consideration when comparatively assessing IPV issues in Chinese societies.

We also found that none of the variables measuring background characteristics and personal and vicarious experience had a significant impact on definitions of IPV. Our findings appear to resonate with previous results showing that Chinese college students were less likely to be influenced by their demographic characteristics and domestic violence experience, compared with their American counterparts (Sun, Li, & Wu, 2011; Sun, Su, & Wu, 2011). Perhaps the traditional group-oriented culture and the relatively monolithic views of social values somehow continue to have a lingering effect on Chinese people, leading to invariance along the demographic and experience lines. Despite our findings, these two groups of variables remain relevant and should be better measured and incorporated into future research to further examine their effects.

Before discussing policy implications of our findings, three limitations associated with this study should be noted. First, though not uncommon in attitudinal studies, a low explanatory power of our models was observed, suggesting that some relevant predictors were missing from our analyses. For example, variables reflecting media influences and official response to IPV can be considered in future research. Definitions of IPV may also be affected by personal direct experience with such incident, which should be further analyzed in future studies. Second, two attitudinal scales (i.e., male dominance and gender equality) used in this study have a Cronbach’s alpha below the conventional cut-off point of .7. Although an alpha value lower than .7 can be expected particularly when dealing with psychological constructs (Kline, 1999), future research should continue to refine and use survey items that have a greater internal consistency. Third, while college students have been widely used in research on public opinion on social and political issues, the findings may not be generalized to the general population. More research using non-student samples should be conducted to further explore attitudes toward IPV across societies.

Our findings bear some implications for college administrators and policy makers. College students are important social forces in Chinese societies and can be cultivated to serve as change agents of IPV. Promoting social equality programs and launching counter-violence campaigns on college campuses could greatly strengthen college students’ awareness of the IPV problems and willingness to report such incidents to the authorities. College students, in turn, can be event promoters of similar policies and programs targeted at the general public. Such efforts hopefully would build less tolerant attitudes toward various forms of abusive behavior and subsequently enhance official determination to effectively tackle domestic violence.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes

Author Biographies

Yanpeng Jiao is an associate professor in the Kenneth Wang School of Law at Soochow University located in Suzhou, China. He received his PhD in criminal justice from the University of Macau. His research interests include environmental crime, crime, and justice in China.

Ivan Y. Sun is a professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware. His research interests include police attitudes and behavior, public opinion on legal authorities, and crime and justice in Asian societies. His most recent publications have appeared in Justice Quarterly and British Journal of Criminology.

Ashley K. Farmer is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware. Her main research interests include policing, disasters and crime, and environmental justice.

Kai Lin is a doctoral student at the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware. His research interests include the social construction of social problems, human sexuality, and cross-cultural comparisons between China and the West.

References

Anderson

Simpson-Taylor

Hermann

(2004). Gender, age, and rape-supportive rules. Sex Roles, 50, 77-90.

Berkel

Vandiver

Bahner

(2004). Gender role attitudes, religion, and spirituality as predictors of domestic violence attitudes in White college students. Journal of College Student Development, 45, 119-133.

Black

Basile

Breiding

Smith

Walters

Merrick

. . . Stevens

(2011). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 summary report. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Bogat

Levendosky

von Eye

(2005). The future of research on intimate partner violence: Person-oriented and variable-oriented perspectives. American Journal of Community Psychology, 36, 49-70.

Bui

Morash

(2008). Immigration, masculinity, and intimate partner violence: From the standpoint of domestic violence service providers and Vietnamese-origin women. Feminist Criminology, 3, 191-215.

Cao

(2006). Study on domestic violence in Hunan (Unpublished doctoral thesis). Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.

Chan

(2005). Study on child abuse and spouse battering. Hong Kong, China: Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong.

Chan

Brownridge

Tiwari

Fong

Leung

(2008). Understanding violence against Chinese women in Hong Kong: An analysis of risk factors with a special emphasis on the role of in-law conflict. Violence Against Women, 14, 1295-1312.

Chan

Liu

Choi

Zhu

(2010). In-law conflict and intimate partner violence. Collection of Women’s Studies, 2, 29-40.

10.

Chen

(2009). Dating violence in 255 female college students in Liaoning Province. Chinese Mental Health Journal, 23, 665-669.

11.

Chen

(2001). Analysis of problems of police response to domestic violence. Community Development Journal, 94, 317-330.

12.

Chen

(1999). Violence against women in Taiwan: A review. In Cheung

(Ed.), Breaking the silence: Violence against women in Asia (pp. 174-184). Hong Kong, China: Equal Opportunities Commission.

13.

Fanslow

Robinson

Crengle

Perese

(2010). Juxtaposing beliefs and reality: Prevalence rates of intimate partner violence and attitudes to violence and gender roles reported by New Zealand women. Violence Against Women, 16, 812-831.

14.

Flood

Pease

(2009). Factors influencing attitudes to violence against women. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 10, 125-142.

15.

García-Moreno

Jansen

Ellsberg

Heise

Watts

(2005). WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence against women: Initial results on prevalence, health outcomes and women’s responses. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

16.

Hester

(2005). Violence and sexual coercion in relationships: The views of university students in China and the UK. Berliner China-Hefte, 29, 36-47.

17.

Hou

Ting

Yee

Fang

(2011). The status and characteristics of couple violence in China. Journal of Family Violence, 26, 81-92.

18.

(2003). Domestic violence: Fight for the protection of women’s rights. Journal of Panzhihua University, 20, 33-35.

19.

Jewkes

(2002). Intimate partner violence: Causes and prevention. The Lancet, 359, 1423-1429.

20.

Kline

(1999). The handbook of psychological testing. London, England: Routledge.

21.

Lanier

Maume

(2009). Intimate partner violence and social isolation across the rural/urban divide. Violence Against Women, 15, 1311-1330.

22.

Lee

Hadeed

(2009). Intimate partner violence among Asian immigrant communities: Health/mental health consequences, help-seeking behaviors, and service utilization. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 10, 143-170.

23.

Leung

Lam

(1999). The prevalence of domestic violence against pregnant women in a Chinese community. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 66, 23-30.

24.

Liu

Chan

(1999). Enduring violence and staying in marriage: Stories of battered women in rural China. Violence Against Women, 5, 1469-1493.

25.

Liu

(2001). The responsibility of public security agencies in preventing domestic violence. Journal of Chinese People’s Public Security University, 94, 63-65.

26.

Markowitz

(2001). Attitudes and family violence: Linking intergenerational and cultural theories. Journal of Family Violence, 16, 205-218.

27.

Murnen

Wright

Kaluzny

(2002). If “boys will be boys,” then girls will be victims? A meta-analytic review of the research that relates masculine ideology to sexual aggression. Sex Roles, 46, 359-375.

28.

Nabors

Dietz

Jasinski

(2006). Domestic violence beliefs and perceptions among college students. Violence and Victims, 21, 783-799.

29.

Nabors

Jasinski

(2009). Intimate partner violence perpetration among college students: The role of gender role and gendered violence attitudes. Feminist Criminology, 4, 57-82.

30.

National Police Agency. (2010). Statistics of police recorded domestic violence cases. Retrieved from http://www.npa.gov.tw/NPAGip/wSite/ct?xItem=26965&;ctNode=11397&mp=1

31.

Parish

Wang

Laumann

Pan

Luo

(2004). Intimate partner violence in China: National prevalence, risk factors and associated problems. International Family Planning Perspective, 30, 174-181.

32.

Saunders

Size

(1986). Attitudes about women abuse among police officers, victims, and victim advocates. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1, 25-42.

33.

Schumacher

Feldbau-Kohn

Slep

Heyman

(2001). Risk factors for male-to-female partner physical abuse. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 6, 281-352.

34.

Shannon

Logan

Cole

Medley

(2006). Help-seeking and coping strategies for intimate partner violence in rural and urban women. Violence and Victims, 21, 167-181.

35.

Shen

Chui

Gao

(2012). Predictors of dating violence among Chinese adolescents: The role of gender-role beliefs and justification of violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 27, 1066-1089.

36.

Social Welfare Department. (2009). Statistics on child abuse, battered spouse and sexual violence cases. Retrieved from http://www.swd.gov.hk/vs/english/stat.html

37.

Speizer

(2010). Intimate partner violence attitudes and experience among women and men in Uganda. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 25, 1224-1241.

38.

Stalans

Finn

(2006). Public’s and police officers’ interpretation and handling of domestic violence cases: Divergent realities. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21, 1129-1155.

39.

Stith

Smith

Penn

Ward

Tritt

(2004). Intimate partner physical abuse perpetration and victimization risk factors: A meta-analytic review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 10, 65-98.

40.

Straus

(2004). Prevalence of violence against dating partners by male and female university students worldwide. Violence Against Women, 10, 790-811.

41.

Straus

Hamby

Boney-McCoy

Sugarman

(1996). The Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2): Development and preliminary Psychometric data. Journal of Family Issues, 17, 283-316.

42.

Sun

Chu

(2010). Who is better suited for handling domestic violence: A comparison between Taiwanese female and male officers. Journal of Criminal Justice, 38, 453-459.

43.

Sun

(2011). Chinese and American college students’ preferences for police response to domestic violence. Police and Society, 21, 214-232.

44.

Sun

(2011). Attitudes toward police response to domestic violence: A comparison of Chinese and American college students. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26, 3289-3315.

45.

Sun

Huang

Lin

(2012). Preferences for police response to domestic violence: A comparison of college students in three Chinese societies. Journal of Family Violence, 27, 133-144.

46.

Tang

(1994). Prevalence of spouse aggression in Hong Kong. Journal of Family Violence, 9, 347-356.

47.

Tang

(1999). Wife abuse in Hong Kong Chinese families: A community survey. Journal of Family Violence, 14, 173-191.

48.

Tang

Cheung

Chen

Sun

(2002). Definition of violence against women: A comparative study in Chinese societies of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the people’s republic of China. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 8, 968-996.

49.

Tang

Wong

Cheung

(2002). Social construction of women as legitimate victims of violence in Chinese societies. Violence Against Women, 17, 671-688.

50.

Tang

Wong

Cheung

Lee

(2000). Exploring how Chinese define violence against women: A focus group study in Hong Kong. Women’s Studies International Forum, 23, 197-209.

51.

Tjaden

Thoennes

(2000). Extent, nature, and consequences of intimate partner violence: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.

52.

Wang

(2003). Police adopting a pro-arrest policy in response to domestic violence. Crime and Criminal Justice International, 1, 148-204.

53.

Wang

(1999). Why are Beijing women beaten by their husbands? A case analysis of family violence in Beijing. Violence Against Women, 5, 1493-1504.

54.

Working Group on Combating Violence. (2004). Procedural guidelines for handling battered spouse cases. Retrieved from http://www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_pubsvc/page_family/sub_fcwprocedure/id_batteredspouse

55.

World Health Organization. (2012). Understanding and addressing violence against women: Intimate partner violence. Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/77432/1/WHO_RHR_12.36_eng.pdf

56.

Button

Smolter

Poteyeva

(2013). Public responses to intimate partner violence: Comparing preferences of Chinese and American college students. Violence and Victims, 28, 303-323.

57.

Campbell

Zhu

(2001). Intimate partner violence against Chinese women: The past, present and future. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 2, 296-315.

58.

Zhu

O’Campo

Koening

Mock

Campbell

(2005). Prevalence of and risk factors for intimate partner violence in China. American Journal of Public Health, 95, 78-85.

59.

Wang

Xiao

Zhang

Zhou

. . . Luo

(2005). An empirical investigation of domestic violence among pregnant women in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Chinese Journal of Preventive Medicine, 39(3), 225.

60.

Zhang

Lee

(2003). The content of domestic violence: Question the concept of domestic violence in the Marriage Law. Social Science Analysis, 2, 107-109.

61.

Zhao

Guo

Wang

(2006). Investigation on the patterns and knowledge regarding domestic violence among married women in rural areas of China. Chinese Journal of Epidemiology, 27, 664-668.