SHOW US YOUR MANHOOD! PRECARIOUS PERCEPTIONS OF MEN AND MASCULINITY

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event SHOW US YOUR MANHOOD! PRECARIOUS PERCEPTIONS OF MEN AND MASCULINITY Jessica Gillies1*, Desirée Kozlowski1 and Stephen Provost1 1 Southern Cross University, Psychology, School of Health and Human Sciences, Australia Aims: Precarious Manhood theorem suggests that ‘manhood’ is a tenuous and socially bestowed state. Beliefs in precarious manhood have been linked to male anxiety, violence, gambling decisions, and attitudes towards homosexuality. However, the influence of such beliefs on visual perceptions of others has not directly been explored. Kozlowski, van der Zwan, and Brooks (2016) found that observers judged target walkers significantly more often to be male than masculine while female and feminine judgements did not differ. This pattern of responding was consistent with the idea of precarious manhood. The current study tested whether or not that finding was robust when observers had the option of judging targets to be neither male nor female. Additionally, we explored whether and to what extent observers’ male and masculine judgements were related to their beliefs about the precarious nature of manhood. Method: Adult participants (N = 342; 230 female), were asked to make judgements regarding the sex and gender of a set of point light walkers, then to complete the Precarious Manhood Beliefs Scale (PMBS). They also provided self-ratings on masculinity and femininity. Results: Repeated measures analysis of variance supported previous patterns of responding. Targets required stronger male cues to be judged masculine than male but stronger female cues to be judged female than feminine. There was no correlation between PMBS scores and judgments. However, self-rated masculinity was significantly associated with observers’ PMBS scores: observers who rated their own masculinity as higher also reported increased agreement with Precarious Manhood Beliefs. Conclusions: When observers were given the option to respond neither male nor female, walkers were consistently judged male more often than masculine and female less often than feminine regardless of PMBS scores. Although not related to judgements, precarious manhood beliefs were significantly related to self-rated masculinity. Keywords: sex discrimination, point light walker, Gender perception, Precarious manhood, Visual Judgements Conference: Southern Cross University 13th Annual Honours Psychology Research Conference, Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia, 7 Oct - 7 Oct, 2016. Presentation Type: Research Topic: Psychology Citation: Gillies J, Kozlowski D and Provost S (2016). SHOW US YOUR MANHOOD! PRECARIOUS PERCEPTIONS OF MEN AND MASCULINITY. Front. Public Health. Conference Abstract: Southern Cross University 13th Annual Honours Psychology Research Conference. doi: 10.3389/conf.FPUBH.2016.02.00007 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 29 Sep 2016; Published Online: 30 Sep 2016. * Correspondence: Ms. Jessica Gillies, Southern Cross University, Psychology, School of Health and Human Sciences, Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450, Australia, j.gillies.11@student.scu.edu.au Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Jessica Gillies Desirée Kozlowski Stephen Provost Google Jessica Gillies Desirée Kozlowski Stephen Provost Google Scholar Jessica Gillies Desirée Kozlowski Stephen Provost PubMed Jessica Gillies Desirée Kozlowski Stephen Provost Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.