Article Abstract: Previous research on the etiology of support for gender-based violence has focused on the role of either core values (such as patriarchal values) or contextual factors (such as the degree to which women “violate” gender norms). Little research has put these two analytical strains together. Our purpose here is to investigate how patriarchal values interact with the contextual elements of an experimental vignette, applied to a representative sample drawn from two South African provinces. Although we find that context matters, patriarchal values not only influence conclusory judgments in real-world disputes but also influence how the “facts” in such disputes are understood and evaluated. As motivated reasoning theory has taught, people are motivated to see the world in a confirmatory way. Although few people openly support violence against women, many more interpret contextual factors in such a way as to create exceptions to those general values.
Toward Understanding Condonation of Gender-based Violence: The Interaction of Patriarchy Values and Contextual Elements of Violence Against Women was authored by James L. Gibson and Amanda Gouws. It was published by Chicago in JOP in 2026.
