Male Role Attitudes and Self-Esteem

Abstract

This study examined the developmental pattern of male role attitudes and the within-person association of male role attitudes with self-esteem among college students. On four occasions across 3 years, 408 heterosexual college students (48% male; 28% Latino American, 32% African American, and 40% European American; mean age at Time 1 = 18.46 years) completed surveys. Multilevel models revealed that, although men’s male role attitudes became more traditional over the first 2 years of college and more flexible again toward the end, women’s male role attitudes remained unchanged over time. Moreover, within-person variation in male role attitudes was negatively linked to men’s, but not women’s, within-person variation in self-esteem. Findings highlight the importance of studying curvilinear changes in gender development and the adjustment implications of gender-related constructs for college-attending emerging adults.