Culture, Masculinity, and Psychological Well-being in Punjab, India

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the relationship between internalized idealized cultural beliefs (machismo, chastity, and caste identity) and psychological well-being (life satisfaction and anxiety) in a male surplus population. The study was conducted using questionnaires in a community sample of Jat caste persons in Punjab, India (N=398). Overall, the correlation between machismo, chastity, and caste beliefs were significant. Men scored significantly higher than women on beliefs about machismo, chastity, and caste identity. For men, divine beliefs about chastity predicted higher life satisfaction, and prescriptive beliefs about chastity practices predicted lower life satisfaction. For women, machismo predicted lower anxiety. The importance of cultural ecological context in the production of masculinity was highlighted.

Gender‐Typed Behaviors in Friendships and Well‐Being: A Cross‐Cultural Study of Chinese and American Boys

“…This finding is in contrast to theory and research (e.g., Bem, ) that suggests that accommodation to gender‐typed behavior is associated with positive adjustment. Differences in findings between the current study and earlier studies (i.e., Bem, ; Spence & Helmreich, ) are likely due to the fact that the current study is focused on aspects of gender‐typed behavior that are particularly relevant in the context of friendships (i.e., emotional stoicism, physical toughness, and autonomy). Rather than focusing on a full array of stereotypic gender‐typed behaviors, many of which are highly valued by men and women, we focused on those aspects that are context‐specific and that, moreover, have been shown in the masculine ideology literature to be linked to negative adjustment (Cournoyer & Mahalik, ; Pleck, ).…”

“…The first draws from gender schema theory (Bem, ), which asserts that there is variation in the extent to which people engage in gender‐typed behavior attitudes or attributes (e.g., being assertive, sports‐oriented or nurturing, compassionate) and that this variation is a result of gender‐based schematic processing. Researchers applying the gender schema theory find that adhering to gender‐typed behavior is linked with positive adjustment, although it is adherence to both masculine‐ and feminine‐typed behavior that is linked with the highest levels of mental health rather than only adhering to one set of behaviors (Bem, ; Spence & Helmreich, ). Subsequent research further suggests that adhering to particular dimensions of masculine‐typed behaviors (e.g., assertiveness) for men and women is linked to higher levels of adjustment (Lefkowitz & Zeldow, ; Priess, Lindberg, & Hyde, ).…”

“…Cross-cultural work suggests that while the dimensions of gender-typed behavior may be similar across cultures (Arciniega, Anderson, Tovar-Blank, & Tracey, 2008;Way, 2011;Yim & Mahalingam, 2006), the levels of adherence as well as the association between gender-typed behavior and adjustment may vary depending on the meaning of the behavior within cultures. For example Indian men who adhere to gender-typed beliefs such as "it is important for a man to be strong" or "a wife should never contradict her husband in public" report lower anxiety than those who do not adhere to such behavior (Yim & Mahalingam, 2006). In contrast, such adherence has been linked to poor mental health in the United States (Mahalik et al, 2003).…”

“…Scholars of gender identity and socialization have long argued that adhering to gender‐typed behavior—whether masculine or feminine—is linked to social and psychological adjustment (Bem, ; Spence & Helmreich, ). Boys and girls who behave in ways that are stereotypic of their own gender (e.g., assertive or nurturing) or of both genders (e.g., assertive and nurturing) are better adjusted than those who do not adhere to such stereotypes (Lefkowitz & Zeldow, ).…”

“…In a context such as China, however, where gender stereotypes are only recently beginning to be challenged (Reese, ), adhering to gender stereotypic behavior may not be similarly associated with negative adjustment. The correlates of adherence to gender‐typed behavior may, in other words, rest on the extent to which the culture reinforces these behaviors (Yim & Mahalingam, ), and the level of reinforcement will likely depend, at least in part, on the cultural and political context. The purpose of this present analysis is to explore the psychological and social correlates of adhering to gender‐typed behaviors among middle school boys in two urban contexts—cities in the United States and in China.…”