Playing the Part: An Experiment of Masculinity Under Threat in Public and Private Settings

Amid ongoing political and gender-based violence, it is essential to understand how perceived threats to masculinity influences men’s behavior. What part does social setting play in this relationship? Do internalized norms of masculinity moderate the influence of threat on behavior? To investigate responses to masculinity threat in public and private settings, I conducted an online survey experiment with 398 white, cis-gender, straight men. When their masculinity is threatened, respondents increase their adherence to traditional masculine role norms. The public nature of the setting does not directly influence masculinity performance. However, those in the private setting had significantly different responses depending on whether their masculinity was threatened. Across settings, respondents initially reporting greater adherence to traditional male role norms responded more intensely masculinity threat – by signaling their adherence to traditional masculinity even more strongly. These results support predictions from hybrid masculinity theory and control theories of identity.