We’re in data analysis and write-up of our Threatened Masculinity studies,  but 2 of them (#2 and #5 below) were presented at the 2022 APA convention. Some team members are currently working on #4 with plans to submit it for presentation at the 2025 APA convention and submit it for publication but Studies 2 and 5 are available for interested parties..

A multi-project study on ‘threatened masculinity’ combined into a single data collection push

1. Threatening men with false feedback connected to sexual orientation and examining relationships between social dominance orientation and approval for LGBT policies (Kelli’s dissertation).
2. Threatening men with false feedback connected to gender and examining the relationships to interpersonal violence via shame, humiliation, and dominance pathways.
3. Comparisons between different types of threat (gender vs. sexual orientation) on experiences of shame and humiliation. Sadly, the shame measure didn’t hold up as reliable in our data so we won’t get to do this.
4. Differences in critical consciousness and intent to engage in social justice based on threat status and social dominance orientation.
5. Differences in conspiracy thinking based on threat status and subsequent shame and humiliation.

Latent Profile Analysis of Conspiracy, Dark Personality, and Masculinity

A latent profile analysis of individuals who endorse conspiracy thinking and several personality characteristics to determine how those constructs cluster together and whether they can be differentiated on support for engaging in potentially violent anti-democratic behavior. We have the data for this study and the poster was presented at the 2023 APA conference. 

Team members are now preparing this study for publication.

Recently presented (APA, 2024) study on gender policing in athletics

• We’ve been interested in how social media might be used to ‘police’ athletes who didn’t conform to the expected level of masculinity.  We collected responses to vignettes that differed by race and how athletes respond to injuries (continuing to play versus coming out of the game). Unfortunately, we didn’t find our expected main effects although there were very strong relationships between participants’ endorsement of both general masculine norms and athlete-specific toughness norms and engaging in gender policing activities via social media .

Studies that have data that needs to be used!

In draft (1) – a latent profile analysis of conformity to masculine role norms in gay/bisexual men. This study identified different subgroups of men based on their levels of endorsement of the masculine role norms and then examined differences among the subgroups on health behaviors (risky sex, alcohol consumption, exercise motivation). Of interest is the profile that included high endorsement of aspects of damaging or toxic masculinity (power over women, winning, heterosexual self-presentation) and what that means for gay/bisexual men.

In draft (2) – gendered perceptions of pain patients. This study examined nurses’ and nursing students’ reactions to patients (vignettes) presenting with chronic pain and we varied the gender and presentation of the patient (stoic versus emotional presentation, male and female patient).