Reference no: EM132374650 , Length: word count : 1500

Assignment

Background

Masculinity – also known as manliness or manhood – is a culturally determined set of characteristics deemed appropriate for men to adhere to; non-western countries are typically more traditional in their beliefs and western countries typically more progressive.

The related concept of gender roles typically distinguishes men from women, thus creating a distinct and orthogonal binary pair of genders (Kaya, Iwamoto, Brady, Clinton, & Grivel, 2019). Many men feel that society disapproves of attitudes and behaviours that are incongruent with traditional versions of masculinity, and thus impose social consequences for deviating from what is expected of them (Vandello & Bosson, 2012).

Feelings of shame are often associated with discrepancies between external social roles and one’s individualism; this is a cause of gender role conflict (GRC; Gender Issues in Mental Health, 2008). GRC relates specifically to men whereby restrictive gender stereotypes and masculinity norms form their interactions even if incongruent with their values. To avoid GRC, men often adhere to masculinity norms in order to appear to fit in with other men (Kaya et al., 2019).

Dominant and traditional masculinity norms within western society state that men should be physically strong, self-sufficient, competitive, assertive, stoic, and emotionally detached (Vogel, Heimerdinger-Edwards, Hammer, & Hubbard, 2011). In addition, and importantly for this thesis, norms around masculinity also mandate which behaviours men should not embody if they wish to maintain their masculinity.

Reticent behaviour, as often exemplified by men, sanctioned by traditional masculinity norms, has been depicted in past research as a likely cause of men’s reluctance to seek professional help – potentially because such behaviours may conflict with masculinity norms (especially power and control). There are several theories that underlie research on masculinity norms contributing to our understanding and potential implications for men within society.

Precarious Manhood Theory

Precarious Manhood Theory (PMT) differentiates between what is expected of a man and what is expected of a woman. This theory suggests that womanhood is ascribed and a direct result of biology (natural developmental transitions in a woman’s life), whereas manhood is dependent on whether it is earned and maintained socially through behaviours and attitudes (often consistent with  hypermasculine stereotypes of being rugged, unemotional, and stoic; Vandello & Bosson, 2012).

According to theorists, PMT is broken down into three principles:

(1) manhood is elusive and must be earned;

(2) manhood can be taken away, and;

(3) men’s manhood is confirmed by society. The implications of manhood being elusive includes increased anxiety and stress over upholding one’s masculinity, high levels of aggression and risk-taking behaviours, and avoiding displaying femininity (Himmelstein, Kramer, & Springer, 2018).

An ongoing need to prove one’s manhood to others is often displayed through participation in ‘manly’ social subcultures such as the military, fraternities, gangs, and sporting teams. Participation in such subcultures, and public displays of asserting one’s manhood, is often done to achieve temporary acceptance and reinforcement of masculinity (Vandello & Bosson, 2012).

Men adhering to the principles in this theory may experience implications for their mental health and their willingness to seek health-related help (Lab report option #1), and/or their beliefs in how gendered certain occupations and industries might be (Lab report option #2)

Your task:

In this guide, you have been provided with a brief summary of background issues, a description of the data file that is provided to you for this task, and a description of the task itself. Your job will be:

1. To develop an argument based on empirical literature leading to your hypotheses (you cannot develop hypotheses that are not testable by the data provided for this assessment). The hypotheses are to be tested by the analyses that you conduct,

2. Select your topic (see below). Check and report the reliability of the measures your use in the report (if you’ve forgotten – e.g., Cronbach's Alpha - SPSS (part 1) Youtube). Then conduct and report your analyses, which you then must attach as an appendix to your submitted assignment.

3. Write up your research report, following the standard format for a lab report (introduction, method, results, and discussion), and being guided by the rubric.

Hypotheses

You will need to develop hypotheses about the role of the endorsement of masculinity norms in Australian men’s gendered-endorsement of traditionally masculine jobs or in attitudes towards help seeking (see below). You are required to make hypotheses about 3 (of the 7) masculinity norms – that is, predictions should be made about 3 of the subscales that are captured by the measure of masculinity norms measured in this survey. You can use correlations or regressions to test your predictions – complexity of statistics will not contribute to your marks.

The Research Report

For your report it is recommended that you conduct a literature search on topics pertaining to masculinity and your topic of choice to inform your predictions about how this might apply to Australian men. This can this form part of your introduction.

Topic Options

Topic 1: Masculinity Norms and Attitudes towards help seeking.

A growing body of literature is revealing that men are hesitant to seek professional help, based on the argument that there may be a direct incongruence between social constructs of what it means to ‘be a man’ (or the norms around masculinity), and one’s willingness to seek professional help The first option for the 2019 research report for social psychology, is to investigate the role of masculinity norms in attitudes towards help seeking.

Topic 2: Masculinity Norms and the Endorsement of Gendered Jobs.

Masculinity norms deem certain behaviours and beliefs appropriate for men to embody. Endorsement of masculinity norms has been predictive of the types of jobs that men desire or hold, and moreover adherence to masculinity norms are antithetical to desiring or holding jobs that are not stereotypically masculine. The second option for the 2019 research report for social psychology, is to investigate the role of masculinity norms in the endorsement of traditionally masculine jobs (e.g., Mechanic) as being masculine.

Attachment:- Lab Assignment Guide.rar