Couple Attributes and Attitudes and Intimate Partner Violence in Vietnam

Nancy Luke, Harvard University
Sidney Ruth Schuler, Center for Applied Behavioral and Evaluation Research
Tran Hung Minh, Consultation of Investment in Health Promotion Company (CIHP)
Tu Anh Hoang, Consultation of Investment in Health Promotion Company (CIHP)
Le Thuy Duong, Consultation of Investment in Health Promotion Company (CIHP)

Most research on gender-based violence concentrates on individual-level characteristics. We recognize that conflict takes place between intimates, however, and use a couple-centered analysis that focuses on the relative attributes and attitudes of spouses as predictors of intimate partner violence. Our data come from a survey administered to husbands and wives in Vietnam. Results show that couple attributes are significantly related to violence, where husbands with lower relative status are more likely to have ever abused. Regarding attitudes, findings indicate that husband attitudes matter the most for the prevalence of violence, independently and in comparison to wives’ attitudes. Where traditional gender norms are adhered to by men, violence is present—-but more so in couples where men are matched with wives who display equitable attitudes. We conclude that men threatened by wives’ positions respond with a “backlash” of violence to re-establish their dominant position.