Culture, Masculine Honor, and Violence Toward Women

Abstract

Prior research has connected the cultural ideology of honor to intrasexual violence between men and to attitudes supporting intersexual aggression in response to perceived honor violations by female romantic partners. We extend this research to show that honor ideology is also associated with an increased likelihood of men actually engaging in violent and sexually coercive behaviors toward women. Extending previous research on honor-based schemas and scripts linked to relationship violence, comparisons between honor states and non-honor states in the United States show that official rape and domestic homicide rates by White male perpetrators (Study 1) and experiences of rape and violence in relationships anonymously reported by White female teenagers (Study 2) were higher in honor states, controlling for a variety of potential confounds. These results extend prior laboratory research on honor-based schemas and scripts into the realm of extreme, real-world behaviors.

Implications of culture of honor theory and research for practitioners and prevention researchers.

“…Such aggressive responses to romantic rejection (and other perceived slights) are associated with many forms of interpersonal violence, including rape. Brown, Baughman, and Carvallo (2018) found that experiences of rape reported by teenage girls are higher in honor (vs. dignity) states, even after controlling for variation in economic deprivation. Furthermore, based on data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Report on rape rates, Brown et al (2018) found that the average rape rates perpetrated by European American men aged 15 and above are 30% higher in honor (vs. dignity) states.…”

“…Because self-worth depends on others' opinions, individuals in honor-based societies tend to perceive that their worth is precarious and can easily be taken away. Importantly, self-worth can be gained competitively, in that one can increase one's honor by appropriating that of someone else 2 States designated by the Census Bureau as being in the South and the West are labeled as "honor states", including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming (except for Alaska and Hawaii), and all remaining states (including Alaska and Hawaii) are categorized as "non-honor or dignity states" (e.g., Brown, Baughman, & Carvallo, 2018;Cohen, 1996Cohen, , 1998. 3 We use the term Latinx (an inclusive, gender non-specific term replacing Latino/a) to refer to peoples of Latin American descent, regardless of race.…”

Disentangling Honor-Based Violence and Religion: The Differential Influence of Individual and Social Religious Practices and Fundamentalism on Support for Honor Killings in a Cross-National Sample of Muslims

“…For example, in ancient Rome, men were allowed in certain circumstances to kill their adulterous wives and daughters (Edwards, 2002). Today, most honor killings are reported from majorly Islamic regions in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (Kulczycki & Windle, 2011), but honor violence also occurs in other cultures (for a recent study of honor violence in the United States, see Brown, Baughman, & Carvallo, 2018). For example, until 1981, Article 587 of the Italian penalty code law provided mitigating circumstances for honor killings:He who causes the death of a spouse, daughter, or sister upon discovering her in illegitimate carnal relations and in the heat of passion caused by the offense to his honor or that of his family will be sentenced to three to seven years.…”

Judgments of marital rape as a function of honor culture, masculine reputation threat, and observer gender: A cross‐cultural comparison between Turkey, Germany, and the UK

“…Besides physical aggression, few studies have shown that culture of honor is implicated in sexual aggression. Data comparing honor and dignity states within the United States showed that men in honor states are more likely to engage in sexually coercive behaviors toward women than in dignity states (Brown, Baughman, & Carvallo, 2018). In addition, there is some empirical support for the association between endorsement of honor norms and tendency to blame the victims and condone the perpetrators (e.g., Canto et al, 2017; Saucier, Strain, Hockett, & McManus, 2015).…”