Man enough? Masculine discrepancy stress and intimate partner violence

Abstract

Research on gender roles suggests that men who strongly adhere to traditional masculine gender norms are at increased risk for the perpetration of violent and abusive acts toward their female intimate partners. Yet, gender norms alone fail to provide a comprehensive explanation of the multifaceted construct of intimate partner violence (IPV) and there is theoretical reason to suspect that men who fail to conform to masculine roles may equally be at risk for IPV. In the present study, we assessed effect of masculine discrepancy stress, a form of distress arising from perceived failure to conform to socially-prescribed masculine gender role norms, on IPV. Six-hundred men completed online surveys assessing their experience of discrepancy stress, masculine gender role norms, and history of IPV. Results indicated that masculine discrepancy stress significantly predicted men’s historical perpetration of IPV independent of other masculinity related variables. Findings are discussed in terms of potential distress engendered by masculine socialization as well as putative implications of gender role discrepancy stress for understanding and intervening in partner violence perpetrated by men.

A Latent Class Analysis of Heterosexual Young Men’s Masculinities

“…For example, endorsement of traditional or stereotypical notions of masculinity is associated with sexual behaviors such as higher numbers of sexual partners (O’Sullivan, Hoffman, Harrison, & Dolezal, 2006). Similarly, a strong endorsement of dominant masculine traits is consistently associated with the use of controlling and physically and sexually abusive behaviors with female romantic partners (Flood & Pease, 2009; Reidy, Burke, Gentile, & Zeichner, 2014). Opportunities for performing or normalizing these dominant notions of being male may be provided through membership in male-oriented groups such as fraternities or athletic teams, which have also been implicated in perpetuating hegemonic masculine norms and support for violence against women (Murnen & Kohlman, 2007).…”

Masculine discrepancy stress, substance use, assault and injury in a survey of US men

“…Response options for each question ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). This scale has demonstrated construct and criterion validity in prior studies of men and adolescent boys 4 6 7. Cronbach's αs for the 5-item discrepancy and 5-item discrepancy stress scales were 0.91 and 0.86, respectively.…”

“…Based on previous studies examining the effects of men's discrepancy stress on engagement in intimate partner violence and risky sexual behaviour,4 6 7 a small to medium effect was expected for the interaction term on each criterion variable. Power analysis indicated a minimum of 436 participants to achieve an acceptable level of power for the negative binomial regression procedures.…”

“…4 6 Men responded to a series of Likert-type questions pertaining to the experience of (1) perceived gender role discrepancy (eg, ‘I am less masculine than the average guy’, ‘Most women I know would say that I'm not as masculine as my friends’) and (2) discrepancy stress— distress stemming from the gender role discrepancy (eg, ‘I wish I was more manly’, ‘I worry that women find me less attractive because I'm not as macho as other guys’). Response options for each question ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).…”

“…For example, Reidy and colleagues4 6 reported that men who endorsed discrepancy stress were more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviour, contract sexually transmitted diseases and perpetrate psychological, physical and sexual violence towards a female intimate partner. Additionally, in a sample of adolescent boys, discrepancy stress was found to be associated with the perpetration of sexual violence 7.…”