Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

Attitudes toward intimate partner “honor”-based violence in India, Iran, Malaysia and Pakistan

Lowe, Michelle, Khan, Roxanne, Thanzami, Vanlal, Barzy, Mahsa (2018) Attitudes toward intimate partner “honor”-based violence in India, Iran, Malaysia and Pakistan. Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, . ISSN 1759-6599. (doi:10.1108/JACPR-09-2017-0324) (KAR id:67038)

Abstract

Purpose

Although intimate partner violence (IPV) and “honor”-based violence (HBV) are major concerns throughout the world, little research has investigated the acceptance of these forms of abuse outside of the West. The purpose of this paper is to therefore respond to this gap in the literature by exploring attitudes toward HBV in a fictional depiction of IPV across four Asian samples: India, Iran, Malaysia and Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants (n=579) read a hypothetical scenario in which a husband, despite his own marital infidelity, verbally abuses and physically assaults his wife after discovering that she has been unfaithful. Participants then completed a questionnaire that assessed perceptions of damage to the husband’s honor, approval of intimate partner HBV against the wife, and perceptions of both the victim-wife and the perpetrator-husband.

Findings

The findings revealed that more males than females, across all four nations, were endorsing of honor-adhering attitudes in response to the perceived threat to the husband’s reputation resulting from the wife’s infidelity. Additionally, of the four samples, Pakistani participants were the most approving and Malaysians least endorsing of honor-adhering attitudes.

Originality/value

The results are discussed in relation to studies of honor-adherence in Asian populations. This study provides an original glimpse into the perceptions of intimate partner HBV in these not-often sampled nationalities.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1108/JACPR-09-2017-0324
Uncontrolled keywords: Attitudes, Intimate partner violence, “Honor”-based violence, Perceptions, Collectivist cultures, Cultural factors
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User: M.M.H. Barzy
Date Deposited: 15 May 2018 15:02 UTC
Last Modified: 11 Jan 2024 11:02 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/67038 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Barzy, Mahsa.

Creator's ORCID:
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.