Traditional masculinity and male violence against women: A meta-analytic examination.

Abstract

Traditional masculinity (TM) is conceptualized as a risk factor for the well-being of men and those around them. Further, TM is often considered a key factor in male violence against women, and the positive association between these two factors has been supported by numerous studies. To quantify this relationship, a meta-analysis was conducted on 57 independent samples (mainly from the United States) from 10,772 respondents, reported in 51 articles between 1992 and 2021. We observed that TM positively correlated with male attitudes toward violence and violent behavior against women. The relationship between TM and attitudes toward violence was moderated by a type of TM (traditional masculinity ideology, conformity to masculine norms, experience of gender role conflict), a type of violence (sexual harassment, rape, physical, and psychological violence), but not by type of relationship between the aggressor and the target (intimate and nonintimate partner violence). The strongest correlations were between traditional masculinity ideology and attitudes toward violence and between traditional masculinity and sexual harassment. At the same time, none of the mentioned factors moderated the relationship between TM and violent behavior. The relationship between traditional masculinity and male violence against women was also moderated by the domain of traditional masculinity. The strongest association was between Status/Power over Women and violence against women. Furthermore, the results should be interpreted in light of substantial heterogeneity in the size of the correlations and the presence of publication bias. Public Significance StatementThis study integrates findings from 10,772 respondents across 57 samples regarding the relationship between traditional masculinity and male violence against women. In general, endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology, conformity to masculine norms, and experience of gender role conflict were positively associated with both violent attitudes and behavior. However, we detected a presence of publication bias and considerable heterogeneity; therefore, the precise estimates may be not reliable.

Traditional masculinities and men’s sexism: A meta-analysis.

“…Sexism was more strongly associated with TMI and conformity to masculine norms than it was with gender role stress. These findings are consistent with the results of a previous meta-analysis, according to which, compared to GRC, TMI, and conformity to masculine norms were more strongly associated with attitudes toward violence against women (Krivoshchekov et al, 2023). One explanation could be that the content of Gender-Role Conflict Scales correspond less to scales of sexism than scales of TMI and conformity to masculine norms.…”

“…On the one hand, compared to gender role stress, the content of TMI and conformity to masculine norms has a greater overlap with sexism (Schwartz et al, 2016); therefore, one might expect that TMI and conformity to masculine norms would be more strongly associated with sexism than gender role stress would be. This is supported by a recent meta-analysis, which showed that TMI has the strongest and gender role stress has the weakest association with violence against women (Krivoshchekov et al, 2023).…”

“…At the same time, we observed the evidence for a conceptual difference between TM and sexism. There is a weaker association between TM and sexism than between TM and endorsement of violent attitudes toward women ( r = .347; Krivoshchekov et al, 2023) and could be considered a moderate association in the context of the broader social–psychological literature (Lovakov & Agadullina, 2021). This result is in line with the proponents of the conceptual differences between individual forms of TM and sexism (e.g., Schwartz et al, 2016).…”

“…Thirty-nine samples were collected in the United States, and 68 samples were collected in other countries, namely the United Kingdom (Archer, 2010; Archer & Rhodes, 1989), Poland (de Zavala & Bierwiaczonek, 2021), South Korea (Seo et al, 2022), Switzerland (Martínez-Martínez & Paterna-Bleda, 2013), Spain (Larrañaga et al, 2013), and cross-cultural research in 62 countries (Bosson et al, 2021). A list of these studies is reported in the reference section of this article, as well as online at the Open Science Framework (Krivoshchekov & Gulevich, 2023).…”

The sum of it all: Meta-analyses and metasyntheses in the psychology of men and masculinities.

“…These findings spotlight the value of considering the influences of paternal anxiety and depression separately from maternal influences, as well as the need to investigate the mechanisms through which fathers' experiences of anxiety and depression impact their children (e.g., via negative parenting behaviors). In a meta-analysis of 57 samples, Krivoshchekov et al (2023a) found that traditional masculinity was positively linked to violent attitudes and behaviors toward women. Moreover, the relationship between traditional masculinity and violent attitudes differed as a function of the type of traditional masculinity: The strongest correlation was for traditional masculinity ideology, followed by conformity to masculine norms, and then gender role conflict.…”