Cohesion and the Culture of Hypermasculinity in U.S. Army Units

Abstract

The goals of this study were to explore some of the ways gender affects cohesion and readiness in the small military unit, and to examine its impact on variables that may be related to unit cohesion, such as a culture of hypermasculinity. Using data from a 1998 survey of U.S. Army soldiers, the study found that men in male-only units manifested more group hypermasculinity than those in mixed gender units, and that group hypermasculinity was associated with higher levels of cohesion in male-only units, but not in mixed gender units. In addition, in male-only units, group hypermasculinity was, paradoxically, associated with a positive environment for spouses. On the other hand, in mixed gender units, group hypermasculinity was associated with a negative environment for spouses and a negative environment for women as coworkers. Across all groups, lower levels of group hypermasculinity and support for spouses were associated with a greater percentage of blacks in the group.

Military leadership: A context specific review

“…About 15% of the officer and enlisted ranks in the U.S. military are women (U.S. Department of Defense, 2000). Despite a plethora of studies examining the acceptance of women in the military (e.g., Armor, 1996;Durning, 1978;Pershing, 2001;Rosen, Fancher, & Knudson, 2003), there have been very few studies examining the role of gender and military leadership. As the novelty of women in the military wears off, it would be expected that researchers would shift to more substantive gender issues other than just integration.…”

Reengineering Gender Relations in Modern Militaries: An Evolutionary Perspective

“…They can affect the likelihood that military men will be vigilant against all threats to their fellow soldiers, including the threat of MSA. Based on evolutionary logic, traditional military culture, existing studies (e.g., Morris, 1996;Rosen et al, 2003), and personal narratives (e.g., Engel, 1999;Williams, 2005), we believe that the prevalence of different forms of MSA should covary with different group norms, contexts, and individual strategies.…”

“…For example, although some scholars link a masculinist warrior identity with rape-conducive norms (e.g., Morris, 1996), it appears that in maleonly units, cohesion-promoting hypermasculinity at the group level is also positively associated with support for spouses (Rosen et al, 2003). This positive relationship was not found in mixed-gender combat support units.…”

“…A conception of military women as neither intruders nor a sexual resource for military men is the ungendered professionalism (Rosen et al, 2003) promoted by Morris (1996) as an alternative to the hypermasculinity of traditional military culture. Treating women as comrades-in-arms promotes a model of cooperation that downplays gender and should also discourage sexual assault.…”

“…As Goldstein (2001, p. 7) documented in his comprehensive study of gender and war, the strongest gender roles are those connected most closely with war. In this strongly gendered context, women in the military have frequently been viewed not as fellow soldiers but either as intruders or as a sexual resource to be exploited (Goldstein, 2001;Rosen, Knudson, & Fancher, 2003). In the absence of cultural interventions that take into account these deep-seated and longstanding conceptions, military women operate in an environment in which sexual assault may be deployed to defend traditional military structures.…”