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Prior research has indicated the extent to which living in a culture of honor can elicit aggressive behaviors in response to insult. Recent work has extended this research to the realm of mental health, with research demonstrating that honor endorsement is linked with decreased utilization of mental health resources due to social concerns that the stigma of psychological help-seeking will reflect poorly on one’s reputation. However, measurements of both the mechanism proposed by the extant literature (reputation concern) and individual-level psychological help seeking intentions were not addressed by previous researchers. In order to address this gap in the literature, the current study of 156 participants located in a Southern U.S. state utilized measures of both reputation concern and psychological help-seeking intentions to clarify the relationship between honor endorsement and the stigma of mental health care utilization. Results from path analysis provided further support to the propositions formulated by prior researchers, in that honor endorser’s reputation concerns appear to fuel stigmatization, which ultimately leads to lower intention to seek psychological services. These findings, in conjunction with prior work, demonstrate the importance of considering individual differences in honor endorsement as an influential factor in understanding the utilization of psychological health resources.

Due to the high prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and their relationship with cervical cancer, it is of high interest to understand the processes that help (or hinder) women to receive HPV screenings. Unfortunately, prior research has demonstrated that due to the sexually transmitted nature of the infection, many women report a stigma of sexual impurity or promiscuity regarding HPV screening, which may prevent some women from seeking such screenings. While many women will experience stigma that prevents HPV screenings, this stigma was expected to be particularly strong in women from cultures of honor, cultures that place strong emphasis on the sexual purity and fidelity of women. Furthermore, we expected the endorsement of feminine honor to influence mothers’ resistance to vaccinating their daughters. In a sample of 257 women aged 30–45, feminine honor ideology endorsement was shown to decrease the likelihood of HPV screening intentions—this link was explained by participant’s beliefs that HPV screening would imply sexual impurity, along with the expected shame and embarrassment they would experience by receiving an HPV screening. Feminine honor beliefs also significantly predicted decreased support for vaccination of participants’ daughters, due to fear it might in some way endorse sexual promiscuity. These findings not only illustrate a cultural factor that heightens the stigma surrounding HPV screening, which may provide a barrier to care in honor-endorsing women, but also indicate a factor that may prevent women from having their children vaccinated against HPV.

Unlike people suffering from most physical afflictions, those with mental illness often face prejudice. This study examines the interplay of several key social and personal predictors of mental illness prejudice: SES, empathy, mental illness knowledge, and personal acquaintance with the mentally ill. As expected, analyses showed that higher subjective (although not objective) SES, lower levels of empathy, and lower levels of knowledge about mental illness all predicted increased prejudice against people suffering from clinical depression and nondescript mental illness—although not against people suffering from schizophrenia. Path analyses showed evidence for a mediating role of knowledge and empathy in the link between SES and prejudice. Implications of these findings for ways to diffuse mental illness prejudice are discussed.

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The symptoms of erectile dysfunction (ED) pose a threat to physiological and psychological well-being, making it important that men feel comfortable seeking ED medication. Unfortunately, some men feel a sense of emasculation and shame in seeking medical help for their symptoms. The current research investigated how men in cultures of honor, who place strong emphasis on their masculine reputation and their virility, might be particularly hesitant to seek medication for ED symptoms due to the masculinity threat posed by such help-seeking. Across three studies, we found that young, honor-endorsing men held higher levels of stigma in regard to seeking ED medication (Study 1), that older men showed a decreased likelihood to seek ED medication, and that the link between honor endorsement and intention to use ED medication was explained by the emasculating stigma of ED help-seeking (Study 2). Finally, we found that honor-endorsing regions had significantly lower levels of ED prescription fills than nonhonor regions (Study 3). Findings suggest that honor-endorsing men are not willing to seek medication for ED symptoms due to the threat to masculinity that help-seeking poses. This phenomenon thus increases the likelihood that older, honor-endorsing men experience the psychological detriments associated with ED.

Prior research has suggested that men may be particularly reticent to disclose their sexual assault status due to fears of subsequent stigmatization from peers. In particular, men disclosing sexual assault have reported being called "closet homosexuals" or being stigmatized for not being "strong enough" to fight off an attacker. The present study examined how beliefs about masculine honor, which center around men being viewed as strong, fearless, and antifeminine may lead to heightened stigmatization of men who have been sexually assaulted. Participants (N = 425) were recruited using an online data collection platform and completed measures about sexual assault stigma, attitudes about concealing sexual assault status, and perceptions of how sexual assault would damage a man's masculinity. Furthermore, men completed measures regarding how they themselves would respond if they were sexually assaulted. Results indicated that masculine honor endorsement was linked to higher levels of stigma, greater belief that men's masculine identity would be damaged by sexual assault, and higher support for assault concealment-these results were found in both men and women. Masculine honor-endorsing men in the sample also reported they would conceal their sexual assault and personally seek revenge due to their own beliefs about masculinity damage and anticipated shame they would feel having been assaulted. Findings suggest that consideration for men's social reputations may be paramount in sexual assault investigations for men who endorse masculine honor norms, perhaps informing guidelines regarding assault reporting procedures. Public Significance StatementParticipants were assessed in regard to their endorsement of culturally specific masculinity beliefs (masculine honor concerns) and various attitudes about men who have been sexually assaulted. Findings show how such masculinity beliefs may fuel stigmatization of men who have been sexually assaulted and serve as a barrier to help-seeking for men who have been sexually assaulted.

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