Effects of hypermasculinity oh physical aggression against women.

Abstract

This study examined the influence of hypermasculinity on physical aggression toward women. Fifty-nine men were assigned to either a high- or low-hypermasculine group based on their responses on the Hypermasculinity Inventory. Aggression was measured by the response-choice aggression paradigm, in which participants who reported physical assault toward intimates had the choice to administer shocks or to completely refrain from retaliating to provocation from a fictitious female opponent. Results indicated that high-hypermasculine men displayed higher levels of aggression on the laboratory paradigm and reported to have assaulted women more often than their low-hypermasculine counterparts. These results suggest that hypermasculinity may be a risk factor for perpetrating violence against women and that these men may have a lower aggression threshold.