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College Students’ Attitudes Toward Intimate Partner Violence: a Comparative Study of China and the U.S.

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Abstract

Although attitudes toward intimate partner violence (IPV) have been the subject of many studies, little research has been conducted to comparatively assess public definitions of IPV in Western and non-Western countries. Drawing upon survey data collected from approximately 500 Chinese and American college students, this study compared and contrasted Chinese and American college students in their beliefs about what constitute IPV. Chinese students were found to be less likely to define abusive acts as IPV than their U.S. counterparts. Gender-role attitudes, such as beliefs of male dominance and IPV as crime, were among the most prominent predictors of students’ definitions of IPV. Chinese and American college students’ attitudes differed not only in what was defined as IPV, but also in what were the factors that shaped such attitudes. Directions for future research and policy were discussed.

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Notes

  1. There are 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities in China, making up 8.5 % (114 million) of the total population. Most of the minority people live in the south, west, and north of China, particularly in remote and mountainous areas where living conditions are harsh. In this study, we do not know exactly where the ethnic minority students were originally from as the survey instrument only contained an item asking whether the respondent is a racial/ethnic minority or not. Information on the ethnic groups that they belong to or the actual provinces or cities that these minority students are from are not available.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Kai Lin & Ivan Y. Sun

  2. Department of Criminal Justice, Wayne State University, Detroit, USA

    Yuning Wu

  3. Department of Sociology, University of Macau, Macau, China

    Jianhong Liu

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  1. Kai Lin
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  2. Ivan Y. Sun
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  3. Yuning Wu
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  4. Jianhong Liu
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Correspondence to Kai Lin.

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Lin, K., Sun, I.Y., Wu, Y. et al. College Students’ Attitudes Toward Intimate Partner Violence: a Comparative Study of China and the U.S.. J Fam Viol 31, 179–189 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-015-9759-x

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