Perception of honor killing: The role of culture, gender, and moral beliefs

Abstract

Honor killing, which most frequently involves male family members killing a female relative, has a long history all over the world. Across two studies, we investigated the role of gender, culture, and moral beliefs in the perception of honor killing. In the first study, we compared the perception of honor killing in Iran (N = 146) and England (N = 144) conducting a mixed ANOVA. According to our findings in Study 1, Iranian participants, regardless of gender, attribute more responsibility to the victim, less responsibility to the assailant, and propose less severe punishment for the assailant. The same pattern of gender differences in the perception of honor killing was found in the second study except that the women attributed more responsibility to the assailant. Regarding moral beliefs, all binding values proposed by the Moral Foundation Theory (Authority, Loyalty, and Purity) predict the high responsibility attributed to the victim. These results suggest that gender and cultural differences and moral beliefs contribute significantly to shaping diverse perceptions of honor killing