Factors influencing responsibility attribution to wife abuse: a study of Chinese police officers

This study, to determine factors that influenced responsibility attribution to wife abuse, involved the participation of 499 Chinese police officers. Participants tended to assign greater responsibility to wife abusers than to abused wives, and both victims and abusers were held more responsible for physical than for nonphysical wife abuse situations. In general, a low level of responsibility attributed to abused wives was best predicted by liberal gender attitudes, high educational attainment, and female gender. On the other hand, a high level of responsibility attributed to wife abusers was best predicted by a low level of responsibility attributed to abused wives, perceived negative effects of wife abuse, liberal gender attitudes, older age, and high educational attainment. Keywords: Chinese wife abuse; responsibility attribution; police officer perceptions