Men’s Perceptions and Emotional Responses to Becoming a Caregiver Father: The Role of Individual Differences in Masculine Honor Ideals and Reputation Concerns

Abstract

Despite the rising number of men and women in counter-stereotypical roles, it is rare for men to serve as primary caregivers in families with dependent children. In two studies, we examined how British men and women perceive and emotionally react to primary caregiver (vs. breadwinner) fathers, whether their perceptions and reactions are contingent upon individual differences in masculine honor endorsement, and the potential mediators in these relationships. Results showed that both men and women perceived the primary caregiver fathers more positively – warmer and not less competent – than the primary breadwinner fathers, yet endorsement of masculine honor ideals increased men’s (but not women’s) tendency to attribute less positive emotions (e.g., proud and satisfied) and more negative emotions (e.g., ashamed and resentful) to the primary caregiver (vs. breadwinner) fathers. Mediated moderation analyses showed that for men with high masculine honor orientation, their less positive and more negative emotional attributions were driven by perceived loss of reputation among male friends, whereas for men with low masculine honor orientation, their more positive and less negative emotional attributions were driven by perceived gain of wife’s and children’s admiration. By shifting the focus to men’s individual differences and motives, these findings offer nuanced explanations for why some men may feel eager about serving as caregiver fathers, whereas others may feel reluctant to do so.

An Alternative Account of Anti-Effeminacy Bias: Reputation Concerns and Lack of Coalitional Value Explain Honor-Oriented Men’s Reluctance to Befriend Feminine Men

“…Perceived reputation loss by association. Following previous research (Gul & Uskul, 2019), we used six items to measure the extent to which participants think their male friends would admire them, be impressed by them, and be respectful of them, as well as how dominant, prestigious, and high status they would feel among their male friends if they were seen interacting with the target (1 = not at all, 7 = very much). A maximum likelihood factor analysis with oblique rotation revealed a clear single-factor solution (loadings from .60 to .91).…”

“…Individual men differ in how much they believe masculine reputation is an important matter for a man’s identity, depending on their culture of origin, socialization, or predisposition (e.g., Saucier & McManus, 2014 ). Studies found that men who strongly adhere to masculine honor ideals tend to be more receptive to potential cues and situations that may threaten their reputation, respond to reputation threats more aggressively, and engage in more stereotypically masculine behaviors (e.g., building a muscular physique, participation in masculine sports, avoiding participation in activities such as childcare) to protect and maintain their reputation ( Gul & Uskul, 2019 ; Saucier & McManus, 2014 ; Saucier et al, 2018 ; Saucier et al, 2016 ). Building on this research, we propose that men who strongly endorse masculine honor may be more reluctant to associate with targets lacking coalitional value in masculine activities as they may reflect negatively on their reputation.…”

“…Moreover, in Studies 1 and 2, we recruited samples from two different cultures (United Kingdom and Turkey). A large body of literature suggests that Turkey has an “honor culture” with strong norms that emphasize the importance of reputation and traditional masculinity (e.g., Uskul & Cross, 2019 ), whereas the United Kingdom has a “dignity culture” with egalitarian gender roles and less focus on honor (e.g., Guerra et al, 2013 ; Gul & Uskul, 2019 ). We predicted that our proposed individual-level mechanism would hold similarly in both samples, with possibly larger effect sizes in the Turkish than the UK sample.…”

Masculinidades e rupturas após a penectomia

“…(12) Pesquisadores destacam que a masculinidade é um status que deve ser constantemente demonstrado e validado nas relações culturais, provando o ser masculino com uma reputação valorizada. (13) Com base nas concepções das masculinidades hegemônicas, os participantes do estudo simbolizaram em suas narrativas as implicações e os conflitos desencadeados a partir da penectomia, colocando em xeque suas relações sociais, afetivas, de traba-lho e lazer. Nessa discussão, sobressai o conceito de normalidade, atrelado à masculinidade hegemônica reconhecida antes do adoecimento como normal, ideal a ser seguido.…”

Examining the Structural Validity of English Stereotype Content Measures

“…These include the mapping of warmth and competence perceptions of social groups -hereafter called targets 1 -in various countries and contexts, comparing and explaining differences in the social perception of targets within and across contexts (e.g., Durante et al, 2013Durante et al, , 2017Fiske, 2017b;The Fiske lab, n.d.), identifying regional or sample-specific variations of stereotype content (e.g., Binggeli, et al, 2014;Fiske, 2017b;Stanciu et al, 2017), and investigating the social perception of targets and subgroups depending on the used label (e.g., Lee & Fiske, 2006;Eckes, 2002;Meijs et al, 2019). Additionally, many studies varied targets as part of experimental manipulations and used the SCM's dimensions as dependent variables (e.g., Gul & Uskul, 2019).…”