Results show that Chinese prevalence levels for hitting were only modestly below the median prevalence levels of other societies. This similarity in prevalence levels across societies suggests a commonality in conditions that increases violence across societies, from lifestyle and stress, to women's bargaining power, to gender values, social support, and jealousy. The Chinese results suggest that, at least for one society, the existing accounts of the role of jealousy are too simple; jealousy can provoke hitting, either directly by causing the jealous partner to hit, or indirectly by causing reactive hitting from the partner accused of infidelity. Findings suggest that it may not be the man's jealousy, but rather the woman's jealousy that exacerbates hitting. These patterns suggest that in some settings, research needs to focus as much attention to women's jealousy as to men's jealousy when examining risk factor for hitting. Data were collected from 2,661 men and women using a nationally representative survey (1999-2000) in China, excluding Tibet and Hong Kong. Tables, figure, appendix, and references