The present study tested a model interrelating intentions to seek psychological help for suicidal thoughts with conformity to 9 masculine role norms: winning, emotional control, risk-taking, violence, power over women, playboy, self-reliance, primacy of work, and heterosexual self-presentation. In addition, the present study examined the effects of contextual variables, such as participants' gender or race and whether one is seeking formal help (i.e., from a psychologist, medical doctor, or phone line) or informal help (i.e., from a parent, friend, partner, or relative). Structural equation modeling with a college student sample (N ϭ 2,504) indicated that conformity to masculine role norms of emotional control and self-reliance produced the strongest and most robust associations with intentions to seek formal or informal help. Violence, power over women, and heterosexual self-presentation norms also evidenced modest relationships with help-seeking intentions but were significantly stronger for the informal help-seeking scenario. Winning yielded a statistically stronger relationship with help-seeking intentions for the formal help scenario. Measurement and structural invariance tests indicated that race did not moderate the associations between conformity to masculine role norms and help-seeking intentions, whereas mixed evidence suggested that women may have a stronger relationship between the playboy norm and intentions to seek informal help compared with men. These findings highlight the multidimensional nature of masculine roles and suggest that norms of self-reliance and emotional control may be the most salient help-seeking barriers.

Researchers using the positive psychology positive masculinity paradigm have advanced several aspects of masculinity that, in theory, represent socialized beliefs linked to healthy personal and relational outcomes in men. However, investigators have yet to explicitly test whether positive masculinity constructs capture broader societal messages dictating positive masculine thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (i.e., male role norms). The present exploratory study created an online survey informed by literature and informal focus groups/interviews to explore how 79 potential positive masculinity attributes were perceived as both positive and socially expected of men. Using Internet and community samples of men and women (N = 1,077), descriptive statistics and paired-sample t tests identified which attributes were rated as positive and statistically expected of men more than they were expected of women. Of the 79 items, all but 3 were strongly rated as positive, 32 were expected more of men, 36 were expected more of women, and 11 were gender neutral. Many definitions of positive masculinity in the extant literature correctly represented thoughts, feelings, and behaviors viewed as positive and socially expected of men, particularly male provider and protector roles. However, some attributes identified as both positive and masculine in the present study may represent moderate expressions of traditional masculinities. Findings were also consistent with gender role stereotypes feminizing relational variables, suggesting that some interpersonal characteristics labeled as positive masculinity in previous research may not represent gendered expectations of men in the broader culture. Implications for the future measurement of positive masculine role norms are discussed.

In the present study, we used multigroup structural equation modeling in a sample of college students (N = 2,461) to examine ethnic and gender differences in the connections between dispositonal hope and intentions to seek psychological help from formal and informal sources. In a personalemotional problem scenario, we found a robust positive relationship between hope and intentions to seek help from informal sources, but no association for formal sources. In a suicidal thoughts scenario, hope was positively associated with intentions to seek both informal and formal psychological help. Results of exploratory moderation analyses indicated that the model was invariant across non-Latino White students and Asian American students, as well as across men and women. These findings address critical gaps in the hope and help-seeking literature, and suggest that increasing college students' dispositional hope may provide a unique

Many college men express stigma of seeking psychological help, possibly due to masculine gender role socialization proscribing help seeking. However, not every man who buys into restrictive masculine roles expresses self-stigma of seeking help, suggesting the presence of potential moderating variables. The present study examined self-compassion and self-coldness as potential moderating variables on the associations between men's masculine gender role stress and self-stigma of seeking help. College men (N ϭ 777) were recruited via e-mail to participate in a brief online survey. Structural equation modeling revealed that masculine gender role stress was positively associated with self-stigma and self-coldness but was negatively associated with self-compassion. Both self-compassion and self-coldness were significant moderators. Men with low levels of self-compassion evidenced the strongest positive associations between masculine gender role stress and self-stigma, whereas men with low (but not high) self-coldness evidenced positive associations with self-stigma. These findings highlight differences between self-compassion and self-coldness and suggest that high levels of self-compassion may be a protective factor in reducing the associations between rigid masculinities and men's stigma of seeking help. By contrast, men with extremely negative and critical self-views may be likely to report stigma of seeking help regardless of their endorsement of rigid masculinities. Intervention and prevention implications include helping men enhance their self-compassion. Public Significance StatementRestrictive gender roles and stigma of seeking psychological help are prominent barriers to men's help seeking. The present study suggests that increasing men's self-compassion could help them overcome masculine gender role socialization related to stigma of seeking help.

Higher education scholars produce the majority of research on student persistence. However, counseling psychologists may be uniquely situated to help students persist toward graduation by enhancing strengths. The present study integrated counseling and higher education models to examine college students' character strengths (i.e., hope and gratitude) as predictors of student persistence variables (i.e., academic integration and institutional commitment). Drawing on higher education theories of persistence, we examined the mediating effects of academic integration on the associations between character strengths and institutional commitment among first-year undergraduate students (N = 653). Controlling for social support, greater academic integration mediated the associations between character strengths and institutional commitment in a structural equation model. Consistent with higher education theories emphasizing academic integration as a precursor to institutional commitment, character strengths may be important for understanding academic integration and persistence. Implications for prevention and the integration of counseling psychology and higher education perspectives are discussed.