Interpersonal Violence in Five Regions in Asia: Ecological Risk Factors Associated with Perceptions of Justifiability of Violence

Abstract

In Asia, rates of interpersonal violence are increasing, with significant regional disparities. However, long-term, continental-scale research considering regional differences across the Asia regions is limited. Guided by the ecological model, we examined five ecological risk factors (low life satisfaction/happiness, economic hardship, neighborhood disadvantage, patriarchal values, and religiosity) associated with perceptions of justification of interpersonal violence (i.e., intimate partner violence [IPV] against wife, child physical abuse, and violence against others) in five regions in Asia (i.e., East, West, Central, South, and Southeast). Using the World Values Survey ( n = 32,307), a multigroup multiple regression model was used with robust maximum likelihood estimation using Mplus ver. 8. In the entire Asia sample model, perceptions of justifiability of IPV against wife were positively associated with low life satisfaction/happiness; economic hardship; neighborhood disadvantage; and patriarchal values, while they were negatively associated with religiosity. Perceptions of justifiability of child abuse were positively associated with low life satisfaction/happiness; neighborhood disadvantage; and patriarchal values, while they were negatively associated with economic hardship and religiosity. Perceptions of justifiability of violence against others were positively associated with economic hardship and neighborhood disadvantage, while they were negatively associated with religiosity. Each region presented unique risk factor associations. Considering the high rates of interpersonal violence in Asia, understanding the risk factors associated with perceptions of justifying specific types of interpersonal violence can provide an initial insight into preventing violence in Asia. Further, as many Asians dwelling outside Asian regions are still influenced by their culture, religion, language, and norms of the region of origin, the study findings may shed light on future studies to consider in the interpersonal violence literature.