The impact of the traditional male role norms on the posttraumatic stress disorder among Polish male firefighters

Background The aim of this study was to explore potential associations between compliance with the traditional male role norms and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Methods The study was conducted on 135 male Polish firefighters. The study used the Impact Event Scale-Revised, the Relations/Social Support Scale and the Male Role Norms Scale. Results The study revealed that the firefighters that suffered from probable PTSD (over 34% of all the respondents) seemed to comply with the male role norms more strictly than those without PTSD. The reverse was found to be true for the perceived social support. Social status norms and toughness norms understood as expectations that men should achieve high status by means of successful career, etc., and be tough and resilient at all costs to be perceived as “manly” were found to be positively associated with the development of PTSD, while in the case of perceived social support, a negative association was confirmed. The results might yield important clinical implications—traditional male role norms pertaining to toughness and social status might be associated with the increase in chances of developing PTSD after the exposure to potentially traumatic events. Conclusions Firefighting as a stereotypically masculine occupation may be associated with the reinforcement of stereotypically masculine behaviors, which in turn is associated with a decreased ability to cope with potentially traumatic stimuli and favoring maladaptive behaviors. The results might suggest that addressing the beliefs about masculinity during psychological intervention in the case of PTSD might be beneficial especially among such masculinized groups as firefighters. The main limitations of the study are: participation of those more eager to participate and reveal personal information; the recall and report bias; the relatively small sample size; sociodemographic data omissions; the study group almost exclusively consisting of firefighters from large urban centers.

Men’s Psychotherapy Use, Male Role Norms, and Male-Typical Depression Symptoms: Examining 716 Men and Women Experiencing Psychological Distress

Men as compared to women are half as often affected by depressive and anxiety disorders and seek significantly less help for mental health issues than women. Adherence to traditional male role norms (AtTMRN) may hinder men from describing prototypical depression symptoms and from seeking psychotherapy. The current study compared whether AtTMRN, gender role identity, or the experience of prototypical or male-typical externalizing mental health symptoms were associated with psychotherapy use in men and women. In an anonymous online survey, 716 participants (37% men) reporting to currently experience psychological distress were examined. Information was obtained on psychotherapy use, depression and anxiety symptoms, gender role identity, and traditional male role norms. Although experiencing similar levels of depression, men compared to women showed a reduction in psychotherapy use by 29%. Masculine role identity was directly associated with reduced psychotherapy use in men (β = −0.41, p = 0.029), whereas AtTMRN was not (men: β = −0.04, p = 0.818; women: β = −0.25, p = 0.064). Higher externalizing depression symptomatology (β = −0.68, p = 0.005), but not prototypical depression symptomatology (β = −0.02, p = 0.499), was associated with reduced psychotherapy use in men but not women (p > 0.05). Interactions revealed that men, but not women, with high AtTMRN use psychotherapy only when exhibiting elevated symptom levels. The results corroborate previous reports showing reduced psychotherapy use in men as compared to women and identify elevated masculine role identity and male-typical externalizing depression symptomatology as direct factors associated with reduced psychotherapy use in psychologically distressed men. AtTMRN interacts with mental health symptoms to predict psychotherapy use, indicating that men with high AtTMRN only use psychotherapy when exhibiting high symptomatology.

Measurement Invariance and Comparison of Mean Scores by Age Cohort of Two Versions of the Male Role Norms Inventory

This study was designed to inquire into the effects of aging versus age cohort by examining how men and women representing four age cohorts across the life span endorse masculinity ideology. Ascertaining whether different groups (such as age cohorts) understand a scale in the same way by assessing measurement invariance is a fundamental but oft-ignored prerequisite to comparing their scores on the scale. The Male Role Norms Inventory-Short Form (MRNI-SF) is a multidimensional measure used to assess beliefs in specific norms of masculinity, as well as general beliefs in traditional masculinity ideology (TMI). A five-item unidimensional MRNI -Very Brief (MRNI-VB) has also been developed measuring TMI only. This study administered the MRNI-SF (which includes the five items for the MRNI-VB) to 1,352 men and women in four age cohorts: young, established, middle-aged, and older. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses found support for partial strong invariance for the MRNI-SF across age cohorts. Support for partial strict invariance was found for the MRNI-VB across age cohorts. For both scales, the effect sizes of non-invariant parameters were small in magnitude, thus non-invariance may have little practical significance. These results suggest that the MRNI-SF and the MRNI-VB measure similar masculinity ideology constructs across men and women in four age cohorts. Mean scores on each instrument were therefore compared across age cohorts with confidence, finding that the age cohorts commonly did not endorse “traditional” masculinity ideology, but differed in the level of disagreement with the tenets of TMI in six out of nine comparisons. In five of those six, older adults hewed more strongly to TMI than younger adults, suggesting that age cohort was more determinative of masculinity beliefs than age.

Traditional Male Role Norms, Social Support, and Symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Among Male Polish Police Officers

Police officers’ work involves the exposition to traumatogenic stimuli. The aim of the research is to investigate potential associations between post-traumatic stress disorder and the traditional masculinity norms and social support. Three questionnaires were used: the Impact of Event Scale-Revised adapted by Juczyński and Ogińska-Bulik (2009), the Social Relations Scale (Skarżyńska 2002), and the Male Role Norms Scale translated by the authors of this paper. The sample comprised 111 male active service members of the Polish Police. The analysis shows statistically significant, mildly negative associations between post-traumatic stress disorder symptomatology variables and social relations/support (− .312 to − .386), and mild-to-moderate positive associations between the traditional male role norms and post-traumatic stress disorder symptomatology variables (.361–.506). The intergroup differences between the police officers that probably meet the PTSD criteria and those that do not meet the criteria were mainly observed in complying with the traditional masculinity norms, in which the police officers with probable post-traumatic stress disorder had higher results than those without it; the reverse was observed in the case of social relations/support. Traditional masculinity norms, length of service, number of types of traumatic events, social relations/support, and age have proved to be significant independent predictors of post-traumatic stress disorder (β = − .38–β = .49). However, in the multivariate regression, only social status norms, age, social relations/support, and number of types of traumatic events proved to be significant predictors of post-traumatic stress disorder (β = − 26 to .40), accounting for 45% of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.

Traditional Male Role Norms and Sexual Prejudice in Sport Organizations: A Focus on Italian Sport Directors and Coaches

Despite the common belief that sport is an excellent instrument to promote social inclusion, distal minority stressors, such as homophobic slurs and insulting or degrading comments, are frequently reported in sport contexts. The aim of this contribution was to expand previous knowledge on negative attitudes toward sexual minorities (gay and lesbian people) in sport-related contexts, by examining how staff employed in organizational sport contexts scored on three different dimensions of sexual prejudice toward sexual minority athletes: open rejection (i.e., blatant prejudice), denial of visibility (i.e., negative attitudes toward the coming out), and gendering performance (i.e., gender stereotypes about sport performance and skills). Furthermore, we examined the relationship between traditional norms of masculinity and dimensions of sexual prejudice. The sample consisted of 178 Italian sport directors and coaches who were asked to complete an online survey (70 women and 108 men, mostly aged from 38 to 65 years old). A repeated-measures ANOVA revealed that participants scored higher on denial of visibility, with respect to open rejection and gendering performance, independently of gender and sport role. The structural equation model showed that endorsing traditional male role norms was significantly associated with open rejection and gendering performance, whereas no significant association was found with denial of visibility. The findings provide further evidence that sexual prejudice is prevalent in sport organizations, supporting the importance of raising awareness among sports personnel about prejudiced beliefs that may lead minority people to experience severe stress-inducing situations.

'Man in makeup': The new gender concept in James Charles' Instagram posts

<p>The rise of ‘man in makeup’ trend in online platforms has brought male makeup artists to break down the gender stereotype and discrimination in beauty industry. Here, the research focused on a male makeup artist, James Charles, on his Instagram account, who brings the concept of ‘man in makeup’ to reject the transgender label. The research examined the way James Charles presents his gender concept, ‘man in makeup’ through his cultural practices on Instagram. The research shows that James Charles has failed in following the male role norms. However, this failure cannot put James Charles to crisis of masculinity. This happens because James Charles has negotiated the male role norms with the self feminizing. Thus, the feminine notion of makeup is not contradictory with his feminized male body, gestures, and identity. At the end, this research argues that ‘man in makeup’ gender concept has been accepted by the Instagram users.</p>