A Pilot Study Testing A New Visual Stimuli Database for Probing Men’s Gender Role Conflict: GRASP (Gender Role Affective Stimuli Pool)

Abstract

ABSTRACTGender Role Conflict (GRC) yields intensive psychological discomfort due to restrictive gender roles. However, there is no visual stimuli database portraying GRC contexts/domains. The goal of this pilot study is to assemble stimuli (a) reflecting GRC contexts and (b) rate them on emotional dimensions (valence, arousal, uneasiness), for norming purposes. Initially, 53 photos were included from the Nencki Affective Picture System and the internet. Based on the four GRC domain definitions, we divided the photos into four categories. Straight and gay men (n = 22) rated each photo on (i) the extent to which it depicted a GRC domain, (ii) the three emotional dimensions. Photos rated above scale midpoint as depicting a GRC domain were classified accordingly and comprised the “Gender Role Affective Stimuli Pool” (GRASP) with 31 photos. Straight participants rated Restricted Emotionality (RE) and Restrictive Affectionate Behavior Between Men (RABBM) photos as less pleasant (low valence) than gay men. High GRC participants rated RE photos as more pleasant and arousing and RABBM ones as more uneasiness-inducing than low GRC participants. Men seem to differentiate their affective reaction to photos illustrating GRC domains; hence, GRASP may be useful to future experimental research examining cognitive and affective consequences of men’s adherence to gender roles.