A cross-national and cross-sectional comparison of men's gender role conflict and its relationship to social intimacy and self-esteem

Abstract

We hypothesized that men's nationality and age group would affect (a) their level of gender role conflict and (b) the strength of the relationship between gender role conflict and the psychological health variables of social intimacy and self-esteem. Three hundred twenty-five men (97 college-aged American, 86 middle-aged American, 82 college-aged Australian, and 60 middle-aged Australian) completed the Gender Role Conflict, Miller Social Intimacy, and Coopersmith Self-Esteem Scales. MANCOVA results revealed two significant interaction effects between (a) age group and social intimacy and (b) nationality and self-esteem. The discussion highlights a contextual interpretation of the results, limitations, and future research.