The impact of gender role adherence, gender role stress, and sexist attitudes on violence against women

Domestic violence became a prominent social issue about 25 years ago. Female victims were the focus of initial concern and study. In the past 15 years, researchers have begun to focus on male batterers in order to understand who batters and why. This knowledge could lead to interventions that would effectively decrease the incidence and prevalence of woman abuse.;The feminist analysis of domestic violence posits male battering of female partners as, in large part, the consequence of socializing the male gender into traditional roles and norms that serve to maintain male power and control.;Although numerous researchers acknowledge the role of the women's movement and feminist theory in defining domestic violence as a social problem, few studies have been explicitly driven by feminist theory and fewer still utilized causal models. This study, driven by feminist theory, utilized an explanatory model to examine the impact of male socialization on woman abuse. Sexist attitudes were hypothesized to mediate the effects of male role norms adherence and male gender role stress on the frequency and severity of battering.;Existing instruments used to measure the study's variables were the MRNS, MGRS, ASI, and the revised CTS. Participants (N = 220) were recruited from five programs providing batterers' treatment. Four path models were examined, two utilized the ASI in total as the mediating variable and two utilized the hostile and benevolent subscales of the ASI.;Results of the path analysis provided some support for the hypotheses. Hostile sexist attitudes significantly predicted frequency and severity of battering in two models. A significant direct effect of male gender role stress on frequency and severity of battering was observed in two models.;The findings suggest that male socialization is an important factor in creating domestic violence and warrants further investigation. Links are drawn between feminist and masculinity theories and recommendations are made for future roles of feminist theory. Implications for batterers' treatment, prevention and education programs, and the male socialization process are discussed.