Intimate Partner Violence Cause Attribution in South Asian Immigrants: Differences By Gender

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant concern within South Asian immigrant communities in the United States (U.S.), which comprise approximately 5.4 million individuals. Gender norms within these communities often place women in subordinate positions, as men may perceive an inherent entitlement from their families, which could implicitly justify abusive behavior. Causal attribution theory offers a useful framework to understand how individuals perceive the causes of IPV, which is critical for developing effective prevention and intervention programs. Grounded in this theory, our study explores gender differences in perceived causes of IPV among South Asian immigrant men and women in the U.S.

Method: The primary objective of this study is to identify factors that increase women's susceptibility to IPV. Our sample consisted of 450 South Asian adults (ages 18 and older) residing in the U.S. Participants were recruited through a larger study and completed a 15-20 minute Qualtrics survey. We utilized the Violence Cause Scale (Yick, 1997) as our primary measure, which comprises three subscales: (1) structural/cultural causes (5 close-ended items), (2) environmental causes (7 close-ended items), and (3) individual-related causes (6 close-ended items). Higher mean scores indicated stronger attribution of particular causes of IPV. The Cronbach’s alpha for the scale was 0.94 for the female-only sample and 0.95 for the male-only sample, indicating strong internal consistency. We conducted a series of independent samples t-tests to compare the mean scores of IPV cause attribution between male and female participants across all 18 items.

Results: Of the 450 participants, 252 identified as female and 198 as male, with no statistically significant differences in sociodemographic variables between the two groups. However, a pronounced gender disparity emerged in the perceived causes of IPV. Women consistently attributed higher significance to various cultural and structural factors as causes of IPV compared to men. Notably, cultural elements specific to the South Asian community, such as the perceived lower status of women (m=3.10, f=3.93); endorsement of female independence in household decision-making (m=3.13, f=3.71); belief that men hold authoritative roles (m=3.46, f=4.40); and the expectation of wives obedience (m=3.65, f=4.42) were statistically significantly different between male and female participants (p<.001). In each response, women reported significantly higher agreement that these factors contributed to IPV than men.

Implications: This study highlights critical gender differences in the perceived causes of IPV within South Asian immigrant communities. Women were more likely to attribute IPV to structural and cultural factors, while men demonstrated comparatively lower recognition of these elements as contributors to violence. A key finding is that women acknowledged shifts in traditional gender roles, such as increased female independence, as potential triggers for IPV, whereas men minimized these factors. These findings carry important implications for service providers. Awareness programs and intervention strategies must be designed with these gendered differences in mind. Specifically, programs should address how shifts in power dynamics within households, particularly the movement toward gender equality, may contribute to IPV in patriarchal families. Tailored prevention and intervention efforts can promote greater perpetrator accountability while reducing victim-blaming within these communities.