Predicting beliefs about wife beating among engaged Arab men in Israel

This article presents one of the first studies dealing with beliefs about wife beating in Arab societies. The data were collected from a random sample of 434 engaged Arab men from Israel, in an attempt to explain their different beliefs about wife beating, based on variables representing three frameworks: (a) male dominance; (b) intergenerational learning; and (c) interpersonal skills deficit. The results revealed that a combination of predictors from disparate frameworks best explained the variance in the different criterion variables of the study. The study finds that different beliefs about wife beating among engaged Arab men are explained by the following variables: Patriarchal and nonegalitarian expectations of marriage; inability to establish positive communication; negative attitudes toward women; sex role stereotypes; and witnessing or experiences with violence in their families of origin. The implications of the results are discussed.