Psychology Commons^™

Counseling And Mental Health Stigma Among College Students: An Examination Of Gender, Mattie Albright

Senior Honors Theses

Male perceptions of masculinity are commonly studied in the psychological world as inhibitors to seeking mental health help or counseling. This research proposal addresses the roles of gender-role conflict and self-stigma of help-seeking in how they predict the male tendency to seek help at lower rates than females. The sample being analyzed in this study will consist of male and female students in the psychology department at Liberty University. Participants will complete the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scale (SSOH), the Gender-Role Conflict Scale I (GRCS-I), and the Attitude Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPHS). Results will explore which factor …

Male Collegiate Student-Athletes Masculinity And Attitudes Toward Mental Health Seeking, Jennifer L. Mayette

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The mental health and well-being of college student-athletes has recently come to the attention of the general public with the increase in current and past athletes speaking out about the stressors they faced during their collegiate careers. With this increase in attention, higher education institutions and larger athletic associations have turned towards research to identify factors that are contributing to the struggles of student-athletes. One factor that has consistently been identified as a barrier for athletes seeking help for mental health concerns is stigma. For male student-athletes in particular, perception of the stigma associated with receiving psychological help due to …

Gender As An Environmental Stressor In Individuals Genetically Predisposed To Mood Disorders: A Preliminary Analysis, Kara West

Audre Lorde Writing Prize

Given the recent ‘epidemic’ of mental health disorders, we urgently need to better understand who is suffering and how. One aspect of this that research has come closer to identifying is where symptoms and diagnoses are missed in certain individuals, especially based on gender. However, if certain genders are actually more likely to deal with certain disorders we need to understand why and where that comes from. There is a general consensus in the medical field that some individuals are simply genetically predisposed to various disorders based on sex, but there is limited evidence that sex actually determines genetic predisposition. …

From A Boy To A Leader, Alejandro Zayas

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The following autoethnographic dissertation examines my personal experiences of trauma, abuse, and violence. Drawing on journals, memories, and artifacts from my life, I use self-reflection to illustrate the impacts of trauma on my childhood and adulthood. My traumatic experiences of sexual abuse, childhood violence, and emotional abuse are situated within broader sociocultural contexts of masculinity, Hispanic culture, and social norms. This study illuminates possibilities for healing and transformation for myself and others with shared traumatic backgrounds. It calls for trauma-informed education, masculinity, and resiliency. Evocatively sharing my traumatic life events provides an accessible window into often silenced experiences, bearing witness …

Homoerotic Medievalism: Looking At Queer Desire In The Homosocial Relationships Of Chaucer’S “The Knight’S Tale” And Fletcher And Shakespeare’S The Two Noble Kinsmen, Juan P. Espinosa

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to explore queer interiority within the heteronormative social constructions of late medieval England. Queer interiority is not an occurrence of modernity, but rather a response to social constructions that date back to the Middle Ages. It is essential to account for queerness in the Middle Ages because authors like Chaucer promote the successive resurfacing of queer characters within heteronormative social constructions. Writing during the queer reign of Richard II, Chaucer constructs the interior identities of Palamon and Arcite as a reflection of the king and the political norms of England. Inspired by Chaucer, authors …

An Emerging Masculinity: A Qualitative Study Of Majority-Status Men's Gender Socialization, Emily Sargent

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Majority-status American men have been found to disproportionately experience suicide, homicide, perpetration of sexual assault and intimate partner violence, as well as, alcohol and drug-related concerns. Current research considers gender socialization of traditional constructs of masculinity to be “toxic” for men and others (i.e., Women, gender and sexual minorities). This study sought to explore young men’s current experience of masculinity identity development in America. Six participants who self-identified as White, straight, English speaking, educated, cisgender, and emerging adult men shared their lived experience of masculinity via virtual video interviews. To assess results of this qualitative study, interpretive phenomenological analysis was …

Social-Contextual Factors Interact With Masculinity To Influence College Men's Hpv Vaccination Intentions: The Role Of Descriptive Norms, Prototypes, And Physician Gender, Laurel M. Peterson, Jennifer A. Orr, Sasha D. Rogelberg, Nils Olson

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Men’s low HPV vaccination uptake and HPV-related disease incidence are public health issues; gendered social–contextual factors likely play a role. In Study 1, college men (N = 130; Mage = 19.55; white = 58.1%) reported their social cognitions (male-referent descriptive norms and prototypes), self-reliance masculinity ideology, and vaccination intentions. In Study 2, college men (N = 106; Mage = 19.32; white = 61.3%) were randomly assigned to receive HPV vaccination information from a man or woman physician-avatar. Descriptive norms and favorable prototypes (bs ≥ .337; ps ≤ .016) were associated with higher HPV vaccination intentions. …

Power, Privilege, And Fraternity Men's Perceptions Of Sex And Sexual Violence: A Phenomenological Study, Justine Diener O'Leary

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Sexual violence is a prevalent concern on college campuses (see Washington Post & Kaiser Family Foundation, 2015; Cantor et al., 2015). Men are the primary perpetrators of sexual violence (Black et al., 2011), with particular groups, such as fraternity men, particularly prone to perpetrating sexual violence (Foubert et al., 2007). The CDC (2014, 2021) recommends utilizing a social-ecological model of prevention that address risk factors at four levels: individual, relational, community, and societal. The purpose of the present transcendental phenomenological pilot study was to explore fraternity men’s perceptions of systemic influences on sex, consent, and sexual violence. Utilizing a modified …

The Next Frontier For Men's Contraceptive Choice: College Men's Willingness To Pursue Male Hormonal Contraception, Laurel M. Peterson, Meriel A. T. Campbell, Zoë E. Laky

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Unplanned pregnancy is a concern for emerging adult men, but their contraceptive options are limited. With male hormonal contraception clinical trials in progress, it is important to investigate men’s attitudes toward alternative contraception. Many social factors, such as masculine norms, may hinder their interest. This study used the prototype–willingness model to investigate college men’s willingness to pursue hormonal contraception. Male college students (N = 160; Mage = 19.37, SD = 1.33; 61.9% White) read a description of male contraception clinical trials and filled out a questionnaire assessing prototype–willingness and masculinity constructs. Multinomial logistic regression revealed that men perceiving greater …

"I Imagine The Male Isn't In The Video And It Is Me:" A Mixed Methods Study Of Internet Pornography, Masculinity, And Sexual Aggression In Emerging Adulthood, Christina Richardson

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Research on Internet pornography has consistently found that men are more likely to view mainstream porn than women and that most men view pornography. Additionally, mainstream porn content has been found to portray highly stereotyped views of gender with men in positions of dominance over women and men engaging in aggression toward women. Despite the consistent finding that pornography is a gendered phenomenon, there is little research exploring the connection between masculinity and pornography use. Furthermore, research on the effects of pornography use on sexual aggression has been mixed, with some findings indicating that men who view porn are more …

The Mascs We Wear: Masculinity Contingency And Sexual Bystander Attitudes, Cody L. Meyer, Sarah Eagan, David Dilillo, Sarah J. Gervais

UCARE Research Products

• This study found that men whose masculinity is central to their self-worth are less likely to engage in bystander behaviors • Further suggests that gender socialization might predict bystander behaviors in men Future Research: • If this effect is a function of gender, does it still occur within queer, trans, and/or genderqueer populations? • Is there a more ecologically valid way to test these questions? (Virtual Reality Technology?)

The Effects Of Sexuality And Gender Norm Conformation On The Male Drive For Thinness And Drive For Muscularity, Merry Krueger

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Recent research has implied that male body dissatisfaction is more prevalent than previously thought and manifests as a drive for thinness and/or a drive for muscularity. Previous efforts to elucidate the factors behind these drives have explored the concepts of gender norm conformation (masculinity/femininity) and sexuality, but not the interplay of the two. This study explores the effects of sexuality on the drive for thinness and drive for muscularity with conformation to feminine and masculine gender norms as a mediator. Participants completed a written questionnaire including the Sell Assessment of Sexual Orientation, the Conformation to Masculine Norms Inventory - 46, …

An Enchanting Witchcraft: Masculinity, Melancholy, And The Pathology Of Gaming In Early Modern London, Celeste Chamberland

Occasional Papers

In seeking to illuminate the ways in which inchoate models of addiction emerged alongside the unprecedented popularity of gambling in Stuart London, this paper will explore the intersections between a rudimentary pathology of addiction and transformations in the epistemology of reason, the passions, and humoral psychology in the seventeenth century. By exploring the connections between endogenous and exogenous categories of mental illness, this study will examine the ways in which medicine, social expectations, and religion intersected in the seventeenth century alongside the historical relationship between evolving concepts of mental illness, stigma and the politics of blame and responsibility in the …

Gender Role Identification, Sexual Orientation, And Disordered Eating In Young Adults, Natalie Perkins

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Young adults are at a significantly high risk for eating disorders. Existing research is lacking in what factors can contribute to this disorder; however, there is some that suggests that self-identification with masculine and feminine gender roles can contribute to an individual’s risk for disordered eating. Research investigating disordered eating in sexual minorities is particularly slim. The current study sought to examine the relationship between gender role identification, sexual orientation, and disordered eating, as well as the roles that anxiety and depression have in disordered eating development. In our sample (n = 437, 73.6% female, 76.7% white, 87.6% heterosexual), participants …

Perceptions Of Blame In Intimate Partner Violence: The Role Of The Perpetrator's Ability To Arouse Fear Of Injury In The Victim, Brenda Russell, Shane W. Kraus, Kristine M. Chapleau, Debra Oswald

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Men are more likely to be blamed more for intimate partner violence (IPV) than are women who commit the same offense. However, because men are typically stronger and perceived as more physically aggressive than women are, perpetrator sex is confounded with masculinity and the ability to arouse fear in the victim. This study disentangled the construct of gender in understanding bystanders’ attributions of blame in IPV. Participants (N = 639) read a scenario in which the perpetrator’s sex (male/female) and gender identity (masculine/feminine), and the victim’s sex (male/female) were manipulated and rated how much they blamed the perpetrator and …

How Sexism Makes The Man: Examining The Relationship Between Masculinity, Ambivalent Sexism, And Gender Stereotyping, Mariah L. Wilkerson

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Masculinity is a precarious social status, meaning it can be lost through social and gender transgressions (Bosson & Vandello, 2011). Men often act in stereotypically masculine ways to reassert their masculinity and restore their social status after it has been threatened. The current study also examines masculinity in a new way, as a collective gender identity (e.g., Tajfel, 1982). I hypothesized that threatened men and men who identify as more masculine will display masculinity through more polarized attitudes towards traditional and nontraditional groups of men and women, endorsing traditional gender stereotypes, and intensified ambivalently sexist attitudes. Two empirical studies tested …

Where Have All The Good Men Gone? A Psychoanalytic Reading Of The Absent Fathers & Bad Dads On Abc's Lost, Melissa R. Ames

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Fictional fathers in narratives are often allegorical in nature and contemporary television is not immune from this. ABC’s groundbreaking television drama, Lost, offers a multitude of father figures that suggests not only a crisis concerning the role of the father in the 21st century but also the crisis of national security experienced by Americans after the attacks. In particular, the program showcases three specific types of troubled father/child relationships: those in which the father is absent and/or dead, those where the father is portrayed as abusive and/or evil, and those where the father and child are estranged and/or their relationship …

Where Have All The Good Men Gone? A Psychoanalytic Reading Of The Absent Fathers & Bad Dads On Abc's Lost, Melissa R. Ames

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Fictional fathers in narratives are often allegorical in nature and contemporary television is not immune from this. ABC’s groundbreaking television drama, Lost, offers a multitude of father figures that suggests not only a crisis concerning the role of the father in the 21st century but also the crisis of national security experienced by Americans after the attacks. In particular, the program showcases three specific types of troubled father/child relationships: those in which the father is absent and/or dead, those where the father is portrayed as abusive and/or evil, and those where the father and child are estranged and/or their relationship …

The Effects Of Masculinity And Trauma On Prosocial Behaviors, Kyle Brasil

College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs Presentations

I examined the difference between men who scored higher in masculinity and experienced a trauma, less masculine men who suffered a trauma, less masculine men who did not suffer from a trauma, and higher masculine men who did not experience a trauma. I compared the four groups on their prosocial tendencies. I used the Male Roles Norms Inventory-Short Form, Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale, and the Adult Prosocial Tendencies Measure to establish masculinity, trauma experience, and prosocial tendencies respectively. The sample used was 54 males ranging in age from 18 to 28 years (M = 19.58, SD = 1.89) collected …

Strengths Versus Deficits: The Impact Of Gender Role Conflict And Counseling Approach On The Appeal Of Therapy For Men, Jeff Reznicek-Parrado

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Current trends from the fields of mental health, criminal justice, and sociology suggest that despite men’s significant mental health problems (i.e. Moscick, 1995; Sue, Sue, & Sue, 2003; Greenfield & Snell, 1999; Follman, Aronsen, & Pan, 2013), they are much more reluctant to seek mental health help than women (Addis & Mahalik, 2003; Olfson & Marcus, 2010). Sociologists and psychologists have suggested that this disparity in help seeking can be largely explained by a cultural mismatch between the context of masculinity and the context of psychotherapy. Psychologists have called for a paradigm shift in the way clinical services are rendered …

An Exploration Of Men's Attitudes Regarding Depression And Help-Seeking, Brian Paul Cole

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Despite significantly higher risk of suicide and co-morbid substance abuse, college age men are far less likely than college age women to seek help when depressed (ACHA, 2010). This “gender gap” has led researchers to suggest that college men are experiencing a mental health crisis (Davies, Shen-Miller, & Isacco, 2010). Several theories have been suggested for this gender gap including: (a) barriers caused by male gender socialization, (b) inaccurate diagnostic criteria, and (c) men experience different symptoms when depressed (Cochran, 2005; Levin & Sanacora, 2007). Additionally, the current researcher hypotheses that fear of femininity is a core aspect of the …

Individual Differences In Masculine Gender Socialization As Predictive Of Men's Psychophysiological Responses To Negative Affect, Jonathan D. Green, Michael E. Addis

Psychology

We investigated a long-theorized relationship between individual differences in masculine gender socialization and avoidance of vulnerable negative affect. Participants were thirty-six men (faculty, staff, and students, M age = 21.40, age range 18-30, SD = 3.00, 3% Hispanic, 11% Asian, 86% Caucasian) recruited from a small university in the Northeastern United States. Adherence to masculine norms was positively associated with participants' physiological fear/avoidant responses to a video of a man violating masculine gender norms by expressing vulnerable negative affect (crying, asking for help, showing affection for another man). Results suggest that masculine gender socialization may cause some men to be …

Evidence For Menstrual Cycle Shifts In Women’S Preferences For Masculinity: A Response To Harris (In Press) “Menstrual Cycle And Facial Preferences Reconsidered", Lisa Debruine, Benedict C. Jones, David Frederick, Martie Haselton, Ian S. Penton-Voak, David I. Perrett

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Over the last decade, a growing literature has shown that women in the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle demonstrate stronger preferences for men with masculine traits than they do when in the non-fertile phases of the cycle (see Gangestad and Thornhill, 2008 and Jones et al., 2008 for recent reviews). In a recent article, Harris (in press; Sex Roles) failed to replicate this increase in women's preferences for masculine faces when women are near ovulation. Harris represented her study as one of only three studies on the topic, and as the largest of the existing studies. There are, however, …

Failed Men: The Postwar Crisis Of Masculinity In France 1918-1930, Brandon Moblo

Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts

Masculinity has been viewed by scholars as a concept which was concerned with becoming as opposed to being. One could not achieve the state of being a man and become complacent. One needed to continuously prove one’s masculinity to oneself, other men, and women.

With its emphasis on the core values of masculinity such as strength, duty and above all, courage, the First World War was seen in France as the ultimate test of manhood. However, confronted with the horrors of modern industrial warfare, men were put into a situation where they were bound to fail that test. This led …

A Review Of Communication On Psychological Gender: Actors, Behaviors And Context, J. Indvik, Mary A. Fitzpatrick

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.