School‐ and community‐based associations to hypermasculine attitudes in African American adolescent males.

Abstract

This study examined the role of hypermasculinity as a form of reactive coping among urban African American adolescent males (ages 12-17) and assessed the extent to which hypermasculinity is influenced by youth appraisals of how adults in their school and community perceive them. Two research questions were addressed: (a) Do adolescent males who report negative community and school experiences use hypermasculine attitudes as a coping response? (b) Do the effects of perceived negative school and community experiences persist, if they are present at all? Participants in the study were 241 African American adolescent males who attended public schools in a large southeastern city. Associating youth-reported questionnaires on perceived teacher expectations and perceptions of community challenges from one wave of data on hypermasculine attitudes within the same year and 2 years later, the results indicate that hypermasculinity attitudes stem from negative perceptions in the community and school contexts. Also, hypermasculinity attitudes were associated with these negatively perceived experiences across time. When examined longitudinally, negative experiences in the community had a stronger relation to hypermasculinity than similar experiences at school.

The Influence of Community Disadvantage and Masculinity Ideology on Number of Sexual Partners: A Prospective Analysis of Young Adult, Rural Black Men

“…This is consistent with previous research that links challenging community environments to the development of forms of masculinity that celebrate dominance, aggression, and sexual conquest (Cunningham et al, 2013). These masculinity attitudes have been hypothesized to have adaptive value in some circumstances, as young men cope with the dangers inherent in disadvantaged communities.…”

Reimagining Social and Emotional Development: Accommodation and Resistance to Dominant Ideologies in the Identities and Friendships of Boys of Color

“…Our data also reveal the intersectional nature of dominant ideologies and boys' resistance and accommodation to them. The "boy code" and the "cool pose," for example, are gendered, raced, sexualized (i.e., heterosexual), and classed [Cunningham et al, 2013;Dumas & Nelson, 2016;Way & Rogers, 2014]. The "Black box" that Marcus describes in his identity narrative is explicitly racialized but also implicitly classed, gendered, and sexualized.…”

“…32-33) While developmental researchers have not considered the study of gender socialization, for example, as a study of accommodation to ideological structures, it is, in fact, the study of how boys and girls adopt dominant gender ideologies in their peer groups, identities, and school behaviors [e.g., Cvencek et al, 2011;Fabes et al, 2004;Liben, 2017;Tobin et al, 2010]. The study of boys, in addition, typically reveals how boys align with masculine norms [Chu, Porche, & Tolman, 2005;Cunningham, Swanson, & Hayes, 2013;Kimmel, 2008;Pleck, Sonenstein, & Ku, 1993;Majors & Billson, 1992;Tolman, Davis, & Bowman, 2015]. Developmental studies have also focused on accommodation to racist ideologies and revealed how children "learn" or accommodate to such ideologies in their racial attitudes and stereotypes [e.g., Slaughter-DeFoe, 2012].…”

“…Research on "high risk" behaviors among youth of color in low-income environments, such as gang involvement, also examine the ways that youth accommodate to ideological scripts [e.g., Dodge, Coie, & Lynam, 2006;Wright & Fitzpatrick, 2006]. Although some of this scholarship frames accommodation as "coping" with racism [Cunningham et al, 2013;Spencer, Fegley, Harpalani, & Seaton, 2004;Stevenson, 1997], it remains primarily the study of accommodation to ideological structures.…”

“…Resistance to masculine norms, for example, has been found to link to psychological and social well-being as well as academic achievement, whereas accommodation to such norms is associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms and self-esteem and lower levels of friendship satisfaction and grades in school [Ferguson, 2000;Nasir, 2011;Rogers et al, under review;Santos, Galligan, Pahlke, & Fabes, 2013;Gupta et al, 2013;Santos, 2010;Way, 2011;Wong, Ringo Ho, Wang, & Keino Miller, 2016]. Resistance to such norms has also been associated with fewer behavior problems [Cunningham et al, 2013;Ferguson, 2000;Pleck et al, 1993] and higher quality friendships [Cunningham & Meunier, 2004;Pleck et al, 1993;. Similarly, significant associations have been found between resistance to racist ideologies and psychological well-being [e.g., Rogers, Scott & Way, 2015;Smith & Silva, 2011], academic engagement [Evans et al, 2011;Nasir et al, 2017;Rogers et al, 2015;Smalls, White, Chavous, & Sellers, 2007], and better academic performance [Carter, D., 2008;Legette, 2018].…”