Pierotti finds shift in global attitudes on intimate partner violence

Rachael Pierotti analyzed data collected in USAID Demographic and Health Surveys in her study of global attitudes about husbands hitting/beating their wives. She found growing rejection of domestic violence between 2003 and 2008 in 23 of the 26 countries examined. She also found that urban residence, education, and media access were all associated with greater repudiation. But Pierotti posits that the attitude changes are part of a cultural shift, rather than the result of urbanization or rising incomes on their own. “Results are consistent with the influence of cultural diffusion, not structural socioeconomic or demographic changes,” she says.

A report of her study appears in the April 2013 issue of the American Sociological Review. Graphs showing results for all nations studied are available for men's and women's attitudes.