Summary: A new study finds that adolescents respond aggressively to perceived threats to their masculinity, particularly in environments with rigid gender norms.
Researchers found that boys whose motivation to be masculine is driven by social pressure are more likely to exhibit aggression. This behavior, which has its roots in adolescence, highlights the impact of social pressure on gender conformity.
The findings call for addressing restrictive norms to prevent harmful behaviors associated with threatened masculinity.
Highlights:
- Social pressure: Boys with socially pressured masculinity exhibit greater aggression when their masculinity is threatened.
- Impact of puberty: Aggression in response to masculinity threats is observed in boys in mid- to late puberty.
- Parental influence: Boys whose parents adopt stereotypical gender beliefs are more likely to exhibit aggression.
Source: New York University
It has long been established that some men become aggressive when they perceive their masculinity to be threatened. When does this behavior emerge during development and why?
A new study by a team of psychology researchers shows that teenage boys can also react aggressively when they believe their masculinity is threatened, especially boys who grow up in environments with rigid, stereotypical gender norms.
The results, reported in the journal Developmental scienceshighlight the effects of the social pressure many boys face to be stereotypically masculine.
“We know that not all men respond aggressively to threats to their masculinity. In previous work, we found that it is primarily men who are socially pressured to be stereotypically masculine who are most aggressive in the face of such threats,” says Adam Stanaland, a postdoctoral researcher at New York University and lead author of the study.
“We now have evidence that some adolescents react in similar ways, which highlights the underpinnings of these potentially harmful processes.”
“Beyond simple aggression, threats to masculinity are associated with a wide variety of negative and antisocial behaviors, such as sexism, homophobia, political bigotry and even anti-environmentalism,” Stanaland adds.
“Our findings call for actively challenging the restrictive norms and social pressure that boys face to be stereotypically masculine, particularly during puberty and from their parents and peers.”
Studies have long shown that perceived threats to men’s “gender typicality”—the alignment of their appearance and behavior with societal expectations of women and men—can lead them to engage in harmful behaviors designed to reaffirm their typicality. The researchers in the new study sought to understand how this phenomenon develops and the social environments in which it occurs.
Stanaland, a doctoral student at Duke University, conducted the experiment, which included more than 200 American adolescents and one of their parents. The boys first indicated the extent to which their motivation to be masculine was driven by internal reasons or by a desire to gain approval from others or avoid their disapproval.
The boys then played a game in which they answered five stereotypical questions about masculinity (e.g., “Which of these tools is a Phillips screwdriver?”) and five stereotypical questions about femininity (e.g., “Which of these flowers is a poppy fairy?”).
At random, they were told that their score was either atypical for their gender (i.e., closer to that of girls and posing a “threat” to their masculinity) or typical for their gender (i.e., closer to that of other boys and non-threatening).
To measure aggression, the study authors then asked participants to take part in a cognitive task: completing a series of words (e.g., “GU_”) that could be completed aggressively (e.g., “GUN”) or not (e.g., “GUY” or “GUT”). In this commonly used task, the key indicator is the proportion of words completed aggressively.
The study also controlled for demographic and other variables. To determine the stage of life when gender typicality might affect aggression, the boys, with their parents’ approval, answered questions on the Pubertal Development Scale, a standard and validated measure of puberty.
Participants answered questions about changes in their voice and facial hair growth, among other things, using the following scale: 1 = not yet started, 2 = barely started, 3 = definitely started, or 4 = seems finished. Given the sensitivity of this scale, participants were allowed to select “I don’t know” or “I prefer not to say” for any question.
Finally, the researchers considered environmental factors that might motivate boys to adopt gender-typical attitudes, including the pressure they reported feeling from peers, parents, and themselves. They also asked participating parents about their gender beliefs.
Questions and data can be found on the Center for Open Science website website.
The experimental results showed the following:
- Like young adult men, adolescents in mid- to late puberty (but not before) respond aggressively to perceived threats to their gender typicality.
- Aggression was increased in boys whose motivation to be gender typical was due to peer pressure (i.e., driven by social expectations) rather than their own instincts.
- Boys most likely to reveal this “pressured motivation” were those whose parents endorsed stereotypical beliefs about male status and power (e.g., that men should have more power than people of the other gender).
“Male aggression presents challenges for societies around the world, ranging from public safety to intimate personal relationships,” observes Andrei Cimpian, professor in the department of psychology at New York University and lead author of the study.
“By identifying when and why some boys begin to exhibit aggressive responses to threats to their masculinity, this research provides a first step in preventing the development of ‘fragile’ masculinities – masculinities that must be constantly proven and reaffirmed – and their many negative consequences in adult men.”
Other authors of the study include Duke University professors Sarah Gaither and Anna Gassman-Pines, and Daniela Galvez-Cepeda, a research assistant in Cimpian’s Cognitive Development Lab and a recent Williams College graduate.
Funding: The research was funded in part by the Charles Lafitte Foundation.
About this news on neurodevelopment and aggression research
Author: James Devitt
Source: New York University
Contact: James Devitt – New York University
Picture: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: The results will be published in Developmental sciences