Results of a study to determine the effect of observing parental violence on attitudes about women's roles and the use of violence against women are reported. A national random sample of 1,092 women and 910 men were interviewed by telephone. Participants responded to questions such as: Did your father ever hit your mother? Did your mother ever hit your father? Responses were rated on a scale from never to often. Attitudes toward women's maternal and employment roles and about violence toward women were also measured. Seventeen percent of the sample reported having witnessed parental hitting, with an indication that although women engage in hitting, they are more often the victims of marital violence. The type of hitting reported varies by sex. More than half the women saw the father hit the mother; both sexes saw the mother hit the father less often. Parental hitting unexpectedly failed to significantly affect attitudes about women's roles. It did affect attitudes about blaming women for being raped, but the effect varied by sex. Income level and education also affected respondents' attitudes. In summary, men are more likely and women are less likely to approve of violence against women if they observed their fathers hitting their mothers. (Author/KC)