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Gender Differences in AttitudesToward Wife BatteringTuntufye S. Mwamwenda aa Department of Educational Foundations , University OfTranskei , South AfricaPublished online: 03 Apr 2010.

To cite this article: Tuntufye S. Mwamwenda (1999) Gender Differences in AttitudesToward Wife Battering, The Journal of Social Psychology, 139:6, 790-792, DOI:10.1080/00224549909598258

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The Journal of Social Psychology, 1999,139(6), 790-792

Cross-Cultural Notes Under this heading an brief reports of studies that provide comparable data from two or more societies, using a stan- dard measuring instrument. These Notes consist of a sum- mary of the study’s procedurr? and as many details about the

neults as spm allows. Additional details concdng the results can be obtained by communicating directly with the author.

Gender Differences in Attitudes Toward Wife Battering

TUNTUFYE S . MWAMWENDA Department of Educational Foundations

University Of Transkei, South Africa

ACROSS SOUTH AFRICA, wife battering has become a common occurrence. One woman in every four is regularly assaulted by her husband (Marshall, 1996; Raasch, 1996), As a result of battering, a woman may lose her life, but more often than not, she suffers physical injury or emotional damage-the loss of her sense of dignity and self-worth (Kuhn, 1994; Made, 1996; Raasch).

In spite of the violence, the majority of battered women continue in the mar- ital relationship for reasons such as fear of losing their security, of being alone, or of losing their families; economic dependence; love; respect; mutual trust; sat- isfaction with sex; moments of great happiness; or lack of a safe refuge (Choice & Lamke, 1997; Marshall, 1996; Mwamwenda, 1995; Raasch, 1996).

My purpose in this study was to explore how much university students would differ by gender in their approval of wife battering, of reporting wife bat- tering to the police, or of the wife’s seeking escape through divorce. I anticipat- ed that the reactions of the participants would be significantly different along gender lines.

Address correspondence to T. S. Mwamwenda, Private Bag X I , Unitra, Umtata, South Afiica.

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The participants (138 women, 81 men; mean age = 22.9 years, SD = 5.3) were drawn from 1st-year students of educational psychology at the University of Transkei in South Africa. I constructed a three-part questionnaire to which the participants responded yes or no to questions about whether they approved of wife battering, whether they agreed that wife battering should be reported to the police, and whether they agreed that being battered would be sufficient reason for divorce.

There was no gender difference in the participants’ support of wife batter- ing; about 25% of each gender approved of the practice. However, there was a statistically significant mean difference between men’s and women’s attitudes toward reporting the matter to the police: The women were more inclined than the men to report wife battering to the police, x*( I , N = 219) = 4.8, p < .05. Similarly, there was a statistically significant mean difference between men’s and women’s attitudes toward divorce, ~ ~ ( 1 , N = 219) = 13.6, p < .001: More women than men indicated that they would opt for divorce because of wife bat- tering.

In wife battering, there are two major players-the man and the woman. The man plays the role of perpetrator, and the woman plays the role of victim. For the man, wife beating is a form of exercising control and boosting his ego by assert- ing his power; in contrast, the woman is subjected to physical pain as well as destruction of her sense of dignity and self-esteem (Choice & Lamke, 1997; Mar- shall, 1996; Mwamwenda, 1995).

In such a situation, the man would have no reason to seek police intervention; to do so would be tantamount to incriminating himself. Similarly, the man would not easily seek a divorce if he believed that he was only disciplining his wife. Moreover, the dissolution of such a marriage would place additional domestic responsibility on the man as well and give rise to other problems involved in such a process. The woman, on the other hand, would have every reason to seek relief from her predicament, even if such relief involved reporting the matter to the police or seeking a dissolution of her marriage.

In this study, I found gender divergence in attitudes toward wife battering and in the seriousness with which it was taken by women as compared with men. Gender equality cannot be achieved when women are subjected to ill treatment by men.

REFERENCES

Choice, P., & Lamke, L. K. (1997). A conceptual approach to understanding abused

Kuhn, E. K. (1994, December 3). Does freedom bring more violence against women‘?

Made, P. (1996, December 10). Zimbabweans recount horror of beatings. Daily Dispalch

Marshall, A. (1996). Homee-often, the most dangerous place to be. Rapcan, Issue 5, 3 - 4

women’s staylleave decisions. Journal of Family Issues, 18, 290-3 14.

Daily Dispatch (East London, S . Africa), p. 3.

(East London, S . Africa), p. 12.

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792 The Journal of Social Psychology

Mwarnwenda, T. S. (1995). Educational psychology: An African perspective (2nd ed.).

Raasch, S. (1996, December 10). Time to join hands against violations and violence at Johannesburg, South Africa: Heinemann.

home. Daily Dispatch (East London, S . Africa), p. 12.

Received August 22, I997 Accepted December 24, 1997

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