College men’s and women’s masculine gender role strain and dating violence acceptance attitudes: Testing sex as a moderator.

Abstract

The present study tested sex as a moderator of the connections between men's and women's masculine gender role strain (i.e., masculine gender role conflict and masculine gender role stress) and attitudes toward psychological, physical, and sexual male-perpetrated dating violence. Self-report measures were administered online to a large sample of male (n ϭ 398) and female (n ϭ 390) college students, and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) procedures for testing moderation through measurement and structural invariance. In the measurement model for both men and women, masculine gender role stress was associated with acceptance of each form of dating violence acceptance, but only the restricted emotionality and restrictive same-sex affectionate behavior domains of masculine gender role conflict evidenced significant relationships with dating violence acceptance. In the structural model, where dating violence attitudes were regressed onto gender role strain constructs simultaneously, only masculine gender role stress emerged as a significant predictor of acceptance of each form of dating violence in the male sample and acceptance of physical and sexual violence in the female sample. Additionally, the direct associations between masculine gender role strain and dating violence acceptance attitudes were statistically invariant across men and women, although certain regression coefficients were statistically significant for men but not for women. The present findings support a small but growing body of literature examining women's masculine gender role strain and highlight the importance of studying the combined contributions of different forms of gender role strain with respect to dating violence attitudes.

The Association Between Sexually Aggressive Cognitions and Pathological Personality Traits in Men

“…Although this research does not identify specific focuses for improved intervention or prevention methods, it helps better define this societal problem by providing a more comprehensive understanding of characteristics associated with sexually aggressive beliefs and cognitions. Previous research has shown that the sexually aggressive cognitions measured in this study are correlated with sexually aggressive behaviors (Bouffard, 2010;Hill & Fischer, 2001;Humphreys, 2007;McDermott et al, 2016;Mouilso & Calhoun, 2013;Osman, 2003Osman, , 2007Truman et al, 1996;Widman & McNulty, 2010). However, as posited by feminist theories of sexual assault, societal factors related to dominance and entitlement perpetuate a culture of sexual assault.…”

“…Behaviors, such as sexual aggression, are the outward manifestation of underlying attitudes and personality traits (Ajzen, 2005); therefore, it is important to understand all aspects of a behavior, such as the maladaptive cognitions and personality traits associated with such behaviors and attitudes. Previous literature has attempted to understand sexual aggression from a variety of standpoints, including an evaluation of maladaptive cognitions (Bouffard, 2010; Hill & Fischer, 2001; Humphreys, 2007; Jozkowski, Peterson, et al, 2014; McDermott et al, 2016; Mouilso & Calhoun, 2013; Osman, 2003, 2007; Truman et al, 1996; Wegner et al, 2015; Widman & McNulty, 2010), specific personality disorders (e.g., psychopathy [Malamuth, 2003; Mann et al, 2010; O’Connell & Marcus, 2016; Williams et al, 2009] and narcissism [Mann et al, 2010; Mouilso & Calhoun, 2016]), environmental factors (Malamuth, 2003; Mann et al, 2010), and even broader models such as the HMC (Malamuth, 2003). However, information was lacking in some areas.…”

“…More specifically, past research has indicated that high levels of sexual entitlement, or a belief that one has an inherent right to sex, have been linked to sexually coercive (Hill & Fischer, 2001; Widman & McNulty, 2010) and aggressive (Bouffard, 2010; Widman & McNulty, 2010) behaviors. In addition, men who adhere to traditional gender roles or believe in rape myths (e.g., denial or justification of sexual assault) are more likely to endorse sexually aggressive thoughts and ideas (Hill & Fischer, 2001), report a history of sexually aggressive behaviors (Truman, Tokar, & Fischer, 1996), and have a higher level of acceptance for psychological, physical, and sexual dating aggression (McDermott, Naylor, McKelvey, & Kantra, 2016). Furthermore, perpetrators of rape have been shown to have a higher acceptance of rape myths than either perpetrators of sexual assault or nonperpetrators (Mouilso & Calhoun, 2013).…”

Dating violence perpetration: Masculine ideology and masculine gender role stress as predictors

“…Conforming to the previous researches, the results of a research conducted on 788 students in America show dating violence acceptance is significantly predicted by masculine gender role stress (Mcdermott et al, 2017). A meta-analysis indicates that the attitude of accepting dating violence is associated with the actual violent behavior (Vagi et al, 2013).…”

“…The failure to follow traditional gender roles resulted in feelings of distress (Mcdermott, Naylor, McKelvey, & Kantra, 2017). The presence of such distress prompts men to feel angry, anxious, increase negative affects, trigger hostility, and aggressive behavior (O'Neil & Crapser, 2011).…”