Masculinity Threat Research Articles

Fleshing Out the Ways Masculinity Threat and Traditional Masculinity Ideology Relate to Meat-Eating and Environmental Attitudes in Australian Men

Meat consumption needs to be reduced to limit climate change but achieving this requires understanding the drivers of meat consumption. In this study, we investigated two potential drivers—a contextual threat to masculinity and the stable individual difference of masculine ideology—and how they predict meat-eating intentions, attitudes, and environmentalism. Employing a sample of 375 Australian men, a population known for its high meat consumption, we did not find support that a contextual threat to men’s masculinity increased pro-meat attitudes or intentions. Instead, we found that prevailing views about masculine ideology significantly predicted meat-related attitudes and intentions, with avoidance of femininity associated with lower avoidance of meat and lower intentions to eat clean meat, and the endorsement of male dominance tied to lower pro-environmental responding. Our findings suggest that situational threats to masculinity may not robustly affect meat consumption intentions and highlight the importance of more stable individual differences in the conception of the male gender identity in maintaining men’s high meat consumption.

Gaining masculine power through guns? The impact of masculinity threat on attitudes toward guns.

Gun violence is a serious problem in the United States and elsewhere and more so among men than women. We conducted an experiment to examine if men whose masculinity was threatened are more attracted to guns than non-threatened men, presumably to compensate for the threat. After completing a gender knowledge test, men (N = 168) randomly received either false masculinity threatening (experimental condition) or masculinity affirming (control condition) feedback. Subsequently, we measured men's attitudes toward guns and their choice of a gun-range voucher. Men whose masculinity was threatened (vs. affirmed) showed more positive attitudes toward guns and were more likely to choose the voucher. Both effects were statistically significant when the whole sample was analyzed and when very strict exclusion criteria were applied. However, when data exclusions were based on a suspicion check, effects were statistically significant only when a covariate was included (i.e., social dominance orientation, patriotism, or experience with guns). We discuss reasons for this mixed evidence, including the possibility that suspicion regarding the masculinity feedback could itself be a compensatory reaction to threat.

Something to Prove? Manhood Threats Increase Political Aggression Among Liberal Men.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11199-023-01349-x.

Masculinity and men’s resistance to meat reduction

This article conceptualizes meat reduction as a masculinity threat for men and presents strategies for making men more receptive to meat reduction. Meat consumption is stereotypically associated with traditional masculinity. Compared to women, men tend to eat more meat and to be more resistant to vegetarianism. Eschewing meat has potential to undermine feelings of and portrayals of manhood, whereas eating meat may provide men with a sense and image of traditional masculinity. Efforts to frame meat reduction as a masculine act may be useful for promoting behavior change among men. Three strategies are proposed for aligning meat reduction with masculinity, ripe for testing in future research. These strategies include emphasizing new forms of masculinity, masculine branding of meat reduction, and touting athletic/sexual performance benefits of meat reduction. Efforts that target beliefs about masculinity have promise for reducing meat consumption among men.

“It’s Getting Difficult to Be a Straight White Man”: Bundled Masculinity Grievances on Reddit

This article examines a case of internet posts discussing social issues affecting men and masculinity. Analysis of 500 posts containing masculine coded language on the subreddit r/unpopularopinion suggests that masculinity, especially when intersected with straightness and whiteness, is discursively constructed in an imagined social hierarchy where the plight of straight white men is invisible. By framing opinions as “unpopular,” these posts suggest that while the poster’s view may be objectively true, it is disvalued in mainstream discourses. Three key findings emerged from this analysis: First, regardless of the particular social issue discussed, efforts to reduce social inequality were negatively evaluated on average. Second, negative posts were more popular on the site; thus, amplifying the visibility of grievances. Third, masculine coded language is structured on Reddit, such that certain issues are bundled together to generate salient, interlocking themes indicating a robust meaning system. Overall, these findings suggest that criticisms of social equality are embedded within a discourse of threatened masculinity, straightness, and whiteness. This research extends past work on internet discursive practices related to masculinity and gender by showing the pervasiveness and intersectional nature of masculinity threat in digital forms.

Not all men, nor all women: Strength of gender identification and social spending preferences in Sweden

The gender gap in welfare state attitudes is the tendency of men to be less positive toward an encompassing welfare state than women. To study attitudinal gender differences at the individual level, this paper synthesizes prior explanations, focused on self-interest and norms, with a social identity perspective, centered on the process of social identification with a gender group. With representative survey data ( n = 1515), covering social spending preferences in Sweden, this study uses a psychometric instrument to gauge the emotional and psychological centrality of gender to individuals’ concept of self—thus distinguishing between men and women with different degrees of attachment to their gender group (strength of gender identification). The results show a strong gender identification is negatively related to social spending preferences for men, but not for women. The findings are discussed in the light the influence of gender norms and masculinity threat, highlighting the structuring and normative implications of social policy for gender differences in attitudes toward the Swedish welfare state.

A Manosphere Brotherhood Against the Law: Masculinity Threat and Legal Consciousness in Online Networks for Buyers of Sex in Illinois

A Manosphere Brotherhood Against the Law: Masculinity Threat and Legal Consciousness in Online Networks for Buyers of Sex in Illinois

Masculinity threat and implicit associations with feminine gay men: Sexual orientation, sexual stigma, and traditional masculinity.

Masculinity threat and implicit associations with feminine gay men: Sexual orientation, sexual stigma, and traditional masculinity.

Masculinity threat increases bias and negative emotions toward feminine gay men.

Masculinity threat increases bias and negative emotions toward feminine gay men.

Gender belief systems through the lens of culture—Differences in precarious manhood beliefs and reactions to masculinity threat in Poland and Norway.

Gender belief systems through the lens of culture—Differences in precarious manhood beliefs and reactions to masculinity threat in Poland and Norway.

To Provide or Protect? Masculinity, Economic Precarity, and Protective Gun Ownership in the United States.

Protection is now the modal motivation for gun ownership, and men continue to outnumber women among gun owners. While research has linked economic precarity (e.g., insecurity and anxiety) to gun ownership and attitudes, separating economic well-being from constructions of masculinity is challenging. In response to blocked economic opportunities, some gun owners prioritize armed protection, symbolically replacing the masculine role of "provider" with one associated with "protection." Thus, understanding both persistently high rates of gun ownership in the United States (in spite of generally declining crime) alongside the gender gap in gun ownership requires deeper investigations into the meaning of guns in the United States and the role of guns in conceptualizations of American masculinity. We use recently collected crowdsourced survey data to test this provider-to-protector shift, exploring how economic precarity may operate as a cultural-level masculinity threat for some, and may intersect with marital/family status to shape gun attitudes and behaviors for both gun owners and nonowners. Results show that investments in stereotypical masculine ideals, rather than economic precarity, are linked to support for discourses associated with protective gun ownership and empowerment.

The effect of masculinity threat on transprejudice: Influence of different aspects of masculinity contingent self-worth

ABSTRACT This experimental study examined the moderating role of masculinity contingent self-worth (CSW) in the effects of masculinity threat on transprejudice. One hundred and eighty-six male undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions. In the first condition, participants received feedback that challenged their sense of manhood (masculinity threat group). In the second condition, participants received feedback that affirmed their masculinity (masculinity affirming group), whereas the third group of participants served as a control group. The masculinity threat group demonstrated stronger transprejudice than the other two groups, whereas no differences were found between the affirming and control groups. The effect of masculinity threat on transprejudice was particularly strong for participants whose self-worth is readily threatened by a lack of masculinity (i.e., the threat aspect of masculinity CSW). However, individual differences in the boost aspect of masculinity CSW (i.e. the extent to which a person’s self-worth is boosted by confirmations of masculinity) did not moderate the influence of masculinity threat on transprejudice. This study replicates previous evidence that masculinity threat is a cause of transprejudice, whereas it highlights the distinction between the threat and boost dimensions of masculinity CSW by showing that the effects of masculinity threat were only moderated by the threat dimension.

Supplemental Material for Masculinity Threat and Implicit Associations With Feminine Gay Men: Sexual Orientation, Sexual Stigma, and Traditional Masculinity

Supplemental Material for Masculinity Threat and Implicit Associations With Feminine Gay Men: Sexual Orientation, Sexual Stigma, and Traditional Masculinity

Supplemental Material for Gender Belief Systems Through the Lens of Culture—Differences in Precarious Manhood Beliefs and Reactions to Masculinity Threat in Poland and Norway

Supplemental Material for Gender Belief Systems Through the Lens of Culture—Differences in Precarious Manhood Beliefs and Reactions to Masculinity Threat in Poland and Norway

Masculinity threat: understanding why Jamaican men report more anti-gay prejudice than Jamaican women

ABSTRACT Jamaica is a developing country known for its high levels of sexual prejudice. Additionally, prior research has shown that Jamaican men reliably report more anti-gay prejudice than Jamaican women do. This study investigated potential explanations for these gender differences. Using a large, diverse data set (N = 659), we found that Jamaican men reported more anti-gay behaviour than women did, but this difference was largest under conditions of lower income, less education and younger age. Also, in line with our hypotheses, religiosity and preferences for dancehall music did not moderate the effects of gender on anti-gay behaviour. These findings suggest that Jamaican men’s anti-gay prejudice may be driven, at least in part, by motivations to bolster their masculinity in the face of underlying contemporary threats. Implications for anti-gay prejudice and prejudice-reducing interventions are discussed.

A Cognitive Uncoupling: Masculinity Threats and the Rejection of Relationship Interdependence

What happens when a primary resource people draw from in times of need is at odds with maintaining a threatened, yet valued, identity? Four studies (Ntotal = 806) examined whether men cognitively disengage from romantic relationships following masculinity threats. As hypothesized, romantically attached men reported less closeness, commitment, and interdependence in their romantic relationships (Study 1), and both single and romantically attached men expressed less positive commitment beliefs (Study 2) following masculinity threats. Supporting a strategy of distancing from interdependence to protect masculinity, perceivers evaluated men who used more interdependent language to describe their relationships as less masculine and more feminine (Studies 3a and 3b). However, exhibiting less interdependence did not restore third-party evaluations of masculinity following a public masculinity threat (Study 3b). Thus, subverting relationship interdependence to protect perceptions of masculinity is an ineffective strategy for restoring masculinity in the eyes of others and may cause unnecessary strain on relationships.

Embrace the leadership challenge: The role of Gay men's internalized sexual stigma on the evaluation of others' leadership and one's own.

Grounded in the framework of the gay glass ceiling, the current research investigated the effect of gay men's internalized sexual stigma (ISS) on both the perceived effectiveness of other gay men's leadership and on their self-perceived leadership effectiveness and their intention to apply to a leadership position. In three studies (N=402), we manipulated either the leader's sexual orientation (SO) (study 1), or his adherence to traditional gender roles (TGR) (study 2), or participants' fictitious masculinity score (study 3). Our hypotheses were as follows: the leader's SO and TGR would moderate the association of gay participants' ISS with their positive attitudes towards the leader and with his leadership effectiveness; and gay participants' masculinity threat would moderate the association of their ISS with their intention to apply to a leadership position, and with their self-perceived effectiveness as potential leaders. Moderated regression analyses showed that: participants reported a more positive attitude towards a gay man (vs. heterosexual) as leader only when they had low - and not high - ISS; participants with high (vs. low) ISS perceived the masculine gay leader as more effective than the feminine gay leader; under masculinity threat, participants with high (vs. low) ISS showed less intention to apply to a leadership position. These studies provide both confirmation and novel insights into the key role of internalized sexual stigma and traditional gender roles. Indeed, these factors can strengthen and perpetuate the gay glass ceiling effect.

Masculinity Threat, “Incel” Traits, and Violent Fantasies Among Heterosexual Men in the United States

The current study aims to shed light on how masculinity threat and challenges from women translate into fantasies of mass and gender-based violence. These attitudes are evident among some self-proclaimed “incels,” who blame social liberalism, feminism, and sexually active men for their rejection from women. We developed a measure of “incel” traits, which was administered in an online self-report survey of 18- to 30-year-old heterosexual men in the United States. As hypothesized, stress in one’s inability to live up to norms of masculinity and endorsement of “incel” traits are associated with violent fantasies about rape and using powerful weapons against enemies.

Sometimes (but Not This Time), a Gun Is Just a Gun: Masculinity Threat and Guns in the United States, 1999–2018

Today, despite national campaigns and mass shootings, gun sales continue to rise. The majority of gun owners in the United States are men, and prior research has documented the complex relationship between masculinity and gun ownership. However, a majority of the research has remained on the micro level. In this article, we look at the effects of men’s unemployment on gun ownership. Using both national‐ and state‐level Federal Bureau of Investigation background‐check data as well as economic indicators, we find that worsening economic conditions for men (relative to women) lead to increases in gun sales. Moreover, this effect is exacerbated by the prevalence of guns in an area. We supplement these analyses with nationally representative survey data showing a strong relationship between perceptions of threat to men’s gender identities and opposition to laws limiting access to guns.

The Role of Masculinity Threat in Homonegativity and Transphobia

ABSTRACT According to the precarious manhood perspective, masculinity threat triggers various compensatory mechanisms and heightens motivation to restore and reaffirm masculinity via typically masculine attitudes and behaviors. Four experiments aiming to examine the effect of masculinity threat on prejudices toward sexual and gender minorities were undertaken, controlling for adherence to sex role stereotypes. Our studies showed that Polish men representing university and high school students exposed to gender threat experienced increased negative affect (Experiment 1) and expressed higher prejudices toward gay people (Experiment 2) and transgender individuals (Experiments 3a and 3b). Furthermore, Experiment 2 revealed an effect of masculinity threat on modern prejudices predominantly toward gay people but not old-fashioned homonegativity. The results are discussed in terms of the role of masculinity threat as the mechanism responsible for gender differences in the attitudes toward sexual and gender minorities.