The Development and Validation of the Gender Role Conflict Scale for Irish Adolescent Boys

Abstract

Ó Beaglaoich and associates (2013, 2015a, 2015b) report that the Gender Role Conflict Scale for Adolescents (GRCS-A, Blazina et al. 2005) may not be suitable for use with Irish boys. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to develop a culturally appropriate measure of gender role conflict (GRC). The resultant 26item scale was entitled the Gender Role Conflict Scale for Irish Adolescents (GRCS-IA). It had satisfactory scale score reliability and a unidimensional factor structure. Evidence of convergent validity was adduced through statistically significant correlations between participants' gender role conflict and indices of psychological functioning (i.e., self-esteem and state as well as trait anxiety). The divergent validity of the GRCS-IA also was demonstrated (i.e., participants' gender role conflict did not correlate significantly with their endorsement of masculine norms). Limitations of the current study are outlined and directions for future research are discussed. KEYWORDS boys, gender role conflict, Ireland, masculinity, psychometrics Gender role conflict (GRC), defined as a "psychological state in which socialized gender roles have negative consequences for the person or others" (O'Neil 2015: 42), prevents individuals from realizing their full potential as human beings. Furthermore, findings from more than 350 studies suggest that GRC may compromise men's psychological and physical health (O'Neil 2015). To illustrate: GRC correlates positively with depression, stress, anxiety, shame, body dissatisfaction, alexithymia, substance use/misuse, and suicide probability, and negatively with self-esteem. The associations between GRC and both depression and self-esteem are particularly robust, having been found with samples that are diverse in terms of their cultural, racial, and sexual identity composition (O'Neil 2015).

Examining Boyhood Masculinity Within an Irish Context: An Assessment of the Reliability and Structural Validity of the Meanings of Adolescent Masculinity Scale and the Adolescent Masculinity Ideology in Relationships Scale

“…For example, Item 12 of the AMIRS (i.e., “I think it’s important for a guy to talk about his feelings, even if people might laugh at him”) did not load onto either the three- or two-factor EFA for the AMIRS, which suggests that this item may not be indicative of contemporary boyhood conceptualizations of Irish masculinity. Taken together, one possible explanation for the MAMS’s and the AMIRS’s failure to load concerns the recent changes within Ireland (see Ferguson, 2001; Gosine, 2007; Holohan & Tracy, 2014; Johnston & Morrison, 2007; Ó Beaglaoich et al, 2016), which may have produced a cultural context in which hegemonic masculinity is valued less than it used to be. And second, it is possible that the scales are out of date and, thus, possess limited relevance to contemporary youth and their understandings of masculinity.…”

“…Currently, however, Ireland is in a unique position because of economic and institutional changes occurring within the country (Ferguson, 2001). These changes include the diminishing power of the Catholic Church, less policing of women’s reproductive autonomy, greater freedoms afforded to sexual and gender minority persons, significant immigration to and emigration from Ireland, and the country’s transitioning from a period of economic prosperity to one of recession and recovery (Holohan & Tracy, 2014; Ó Beaglaoich et al, 2016). These social, political, and economic transitions have given Irish men an opportunity to (re)construct and (re)conceptualize their own sense of maleness (Johnston & Morrison, 2007).…”