Legitimacy, incipience, and perception of informal social control of intimate partner violence: Experiment on a Korean parent sample

Evidence from a growing research literature on the causes and effects of informal social control (ISC) and bystander interventions carried out by nonprofessionals against intimate partner violence (IPV) shows anomalies and unexplained counterintuitive findings. This study employs a new experimental vignette design to examine the hypothesis: high bystander legitimacy (in the eyes of potential perpetrators) will moderate the effects of (1) incipient ISC and (2) perceived ISC, on parent's self-estimated likelihood of perpetrating IPV. The data consist of 210 rural Korean parents randomly drawn from Kyunggi province using a three-stage cluster probability proportional to size approach. Parents were randomly assigned to low and high incipient ISC, perceived ISC, and collective legitimacy conditions, following a 2 × 2 × 2 experimental vignette approach. Hypotheses were tested using regression models with standard errors corrected for district clusters. Incipient ISC was associated with significantly less self-estimated likelihood of perpetrating IPV. An interaction between high bystander legitimacy and incipient ISC was negative (B = −8.88, p < 0.01). The interaction between perceived ISC and legitimacy was not significant. However, the interaction between perceived ISC and female gender was positively associated with self-estimated likelihood of perpetrating IPV (B = 8.61, p < 0.05). The findings suggest that the presence of a legitimate bystander (whom the potential perpetrator believes has a legitimate right to be concerned about his or her family) may deter parents from perpetrating IPV. Programs to boost ISC and bystander intervention should include modules that strengthen collective legitimacy.