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This study explored how changes in power relations within couples after immigrating from more patriarchal societies contribute to intimate partner violence (IPV). Both subjective decision-making power and objective power bases were examined in Chinese immigrant couples. Batterers and nonviolent men both experienced loss of decision-making power in favor of their spouses postimmigration. For the batterers, this loss appeared materialized by lower gains in education and lack of significant gains in income compared to their spouses. However, it was subjective power loss that was related to the batterers' attitudes toward IPV. The study highlights the significance of understanding changes in power dynamics postimmigration among immigrants and the importance of distinguishing between subjective and material power to better capture power imbalance within couples.

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The first distribution of Chinese infant–mother ( n = 61) attachment classifications categorised by trained and reliability-tested coders is reported with statistical comparisons to US norms and previous Chinese distributions. Three-way distribution was 15% insecure-avoidant, 62% secure, 13% insecure-resistant, and 4-way distribution was 13% insecure-avoidant, 58% secure, 16% insecure-resistant,13% disorganised. These findings support the hypotheses that: (1) consistent with global norms the majority of infants will show secure attachments to mother; (2) insecure-resistant attachments will be greater than insecure-avoidant attachments in this interdependent cultural setting; and (3) disorganised attachments will be comparable to Western norms. Pooled samples from previously reported Chinese samples demonstrate deviations from US norms on all categories including relatively low proportions of avoidant and disorganised classifications, especially among samples from the South. Culture-specific childrearing practices and the role of training and reliability-testing for coders are suggested as possible contributors to these differences.