Self-esteem as a predictor of attitudes toward wife abuse among muslim women and men in Canada

This study was designed (a) to assess attitudes toward wife abuse in a samp le of Muslim women and men in Canada and (b) to assess whether those attitu des were influenced by self-esteem. Results suggested that, as in general N orth American samples, the Muslim women and men did not differ from each ot her on levels of self-esteem. Also consistent with general North American s amples, the Muslim women's and men's attitudes toward wife abuse were relat ed to their self-esteem, with higher self-esteem scores predicting stronger attitudes against wife abuse, independent of gender. However, the results also revealed that the Muslim men had significantly more lenient attitudes toward wife abuse compared with the Muslim women and with North American no rms.