Citation

Fisher MI, Burgess TC, Hammond MD. Psychol. Men Masc. 2021; 22(4): 732-744.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/men0000357

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Hostile sexism encompasses beliefs about the risks of depending on women, so men's endorsement of hostile sexism should interrupt access to social support. Across two studies, U.S. and Canadian men who more strongly endorsed hostile sexism expressed lower satisfaction with support from female romantic partners (Study 1; N = 293) and lower desire for support from close others in stressful scenarios (Study 2; N = 396). Moderation and mediation analyses identified more (vs. less) interdependent relationships as a key context of discomfort with support and two potential mechanisms: Men who endorsed hostile sexism perceived support as potentially threatening and felt more vulnerable when seeking support, partially explaining their discomfort with support. Surprisingly, results for women's hostile sexism showed similar patterns of discomfort with support. Our findings illustrate that endorsing hostile sexism has costs for men themselves, but also suggest the effects of hostile sexism are less gender specific than previously theorized. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Language: en