title: Gender symmetry in the self-reporting of intimate partner violence.
abstract: Research has not conclusively determined whether men and women are equally likely to commit intimate partner violence (IPV). One explanation for the disparity in previous findings may be gender-based differences in reporting styles. The present study investigated whether there was any gender difference in self-reported IPV prevalence. A total of 3,740 Chinese couples from a representative population in Hong Kong were interviewed. Self-reports of men-to-women and women-to-men IPV between spouses were compared. Gender was controlled for to evaluate whether age, education, the Chinese concept of face, and other violence-related characteristics would affect the self-reporting of IPV. Findings supported gender symmetry in self-reported IPV prevalence as well as a moderate interspousal agreement in the self-reports. After adjustment for covariates, face was a significant factor predicting the interspousal differences in both men-to-women and women-to-men physical IPV.
authors.affiliation: University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. eklchan@hkucc.hku.hk
authors.forename: Ko Ling
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D057566:Self Report; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014342:Truth Disclosure