A metasynthesis exploring the role of masculinities in close male friendships.

Abstract

Research suggests that certain masculine norms such as toughness, emotional stoicism, and homophobia can make it challenging for boys and men to form close friendships. This is concerning given that boys and men who do not successfully develop close relationships may experience outcomes such as reduced self-esteem and impaired psychological health. The purpose of the current metasynthesis was to synthesize studies that focus on the role of masculine norms in close male friendships. The present study focused on a corpus of 28 articles comprising a total of 2,034 participants from Western countries. Thematic analysis yielded two overarching themes that illustrate the different ways in which boys and men negotiate masculine norms within their friendships: (a) enacting traditional norms and (b) compartmentalizing to resist masculine norms. Implications include the development of novel interventions that can be used to motivate young boys and men to critically analyze problematic aspects of masculinities and thus forge stronger friendships.

The sum of it all: Meta-analyses and metasyntheses in the psychology of men and masculinities.

“…Given that men represent fewer than 1% of breast cancer cases, it is not surprising that men’s experience of breast cancer has been an understudied area of research. The authors found that men’s experiences of breast cancer were similar in some ways to those of women but were also uniquely gendered in other ways, such as the stigma of living with a “woman’s disease.” Last, in a metasynthesis of findings from 28 studies, Vierra et al (2023) identified two overarching themes on the function of masculine norms in close male friendships: (a) pressure to enact traditional masculine norms (e.g., through peers’ heterosexist insults) and (b) the use of compartmentalization of friendships to resist masculine norms. Regarding the second theme, participants distinguished between different types of friendships—some that did not afford them the opportunity to challenge traditional masculine norms and others that enabled them to be emotionally intimate.…”