Gender and Dating Violence Perpetration and Victimization: A Comparison of American and Chinese College Students

Abstract

Previous research has shown that violence in romantic relationships is a serious social and public health problem throughout the world among young adults. College students, as a vulnerable group, experience high rates of dating violence, irrespective of gender and nation. Yet, we still know relatively little about whether dating violence shows gender similarities or differences in different cultural settings. United States and China are both patriarchal societies but have diverse cultural background. There may be different gendered patterns of dating violence across these two countries. This study examined the gender differences in physical assault victimization and perpetration among college students in the United States and China, while controlling for dominance, jealousy, violence approval, and a number of demographic factors. Logistic regression analyses were conducted for a total of 5,631 individuals from the United States and China who participated in the International Dating Violence Study from 2001 to 2006. Results demonstrated that male and female college students in China were significantly less likely to be victims of minor physical assault compared with students in the United States. In addition, female students, both in the United States and China, were more likely to perpetrate minor and severe physical assault against their partners than male students in this sample. But Chinese females had a higher percentage of assault against their dating partners than females in the United States. This study contributes to the research on dating violence by exploring cross-cultural gender differences in both victimization and perpetration of physical violence among college students. The implications of findings and future research direction were discussed.