Abstract

Traditional masculinity norms are still prevalent in our societies. As a result, men who deviate from these norms face adverse reactions (i.e., backlash), mainly from other men. The present research investigated whether the perceived threat to gender status quo accounts for this phenomenon. In two studies using a sample of heterosexual men (<em>N<sub>total</sub></em> = 338), we measured male participants’ endorsement of traditional masculinity beliefs and their political orientation. As a means of examining the role of threat to the gender status quo, we then manipulated whether traditional masculinity norms remained stable (stability) or changed across time (men’s feminization). Finally, we assessed participants’ evaluation of men who deviate from traditional masculinity norms (i.e., a backlash against a non-traditional man). This target was either compared to a traditional man (Study 1) or a traditional woman (Study 2). The general hypothesis was that men who are strongly motivated to maintain the gender status quo (i.e., those who endorse traditional masculinity beliefs to a higher extent or support right-wing political ideologies) should show greater backlash, particularly when the gender status quo is threatened (i.e., in the men’s feminization condition). The results of a small-scale meta-analysis supported our hypothesis. We discuss the impact of these findings on the gender literature.

Highlights

  • Traditional masculinity norms are still prevalent in our societies

  • In the feminization condition [stability condition in brackets], the article reported that this recent publication showed that ‘men tend to become more feminine over time [men are just as masculine as ever]’ and that, according to researchers, these results suggest that

  • A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with men’s gender norm as the independent variable was performed on the comprehension check

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Summary

Introduction

Traditional masculinity norms are still prevalent in our societies. As a result, men who deviate from these norms face adverse reactions (i.e., backlash), mainly from other men. We investigated (heterosexual) men’s reactions towards men who display stereotypically feminine behaviors (who deviate from traditional masculinity norms) and their motivations behind these reactions. The few studies examining the consequences faced by men who do not conform to traditional masculinity norms (i.e., non-traditional men) have revealed a backlash effect (see Moss-Racusin, 2014, for a review). In line with the SIH, men who are motivated to maintain the gender hierarchy unchanged should be prone to sanction non-traditional men We believe it is theoretically sounded, relevant, and informative to examine individual differences explicitly related to both masculinity (i.e., endorsement of masculinity norms) and a more general defense of the status quo (i.e., political orientation)

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