Constructions of masculinity and their influence on men's well-being: a theory of gender and health.
TL;DR: How factors such as ethnicity, economic status, educational level, sexual orientation and social context influence the kind of masculinity that men construct and contribute to differential health risks among men in the United States is explored.
About: This article is published in Social Science & Medicine.The article was published on 2000-05-16. It has received 3629 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Masculinity & Social environment.
Citations
More filters
Simon I. Hay, Amanuel Alemu Abajobir1, Kalkidan Hassen Abate2, Cristiana Abbafati3 +800 more•Institutions (32)
TL;DR: At a global level, DALYs and HALE continue to show improvements and the importance of continued health interventions, which has changed in most locations in pace with the gross domestic product per person, education, and family planning.
3,029 citations
TL;DR: A contextual framework is developed by exploring how the socialization and social construction of masculinities transact with social psychological processes common to a variety of potential help-seeking contexts and suggests innovative ways to facilitate adaptive help seeking.
Abstract: Research on men's help seeking yields strategies for enhancing men's use of mental and physical health resources. Analysis of the assumptions underlying existing theory and research also provides a context for evaluating the psychology of men and masculinity as an evolving area of social scientific inquiry. The authors identify several theoretical and methodological obstacles that limit understanding of the variable ways that men do or do not seek help from mental and physical health care professionals. A contextual framework is developed by exploring how the socialization and social construction of masculinities transact with social psychological processes common to a variety of potential help-seeking contexts. This approach begins to integrate the psychology of men and masculinity with theory and methodology from other disciplines and suggests innovative ways to facilitate adaptive help seeking.
2,333 citations
Cites background from "Constructions of masculinity and th..."
...For example, men in the United States die, on average, close to seven years younger than women and have higher rates of the 15 leading causes of death (see Courtenay, 2000)....
[...]
...When men do seek help, they ask fewer questions than do women (Courtenay, 2000)....
[...]
...For example, internalizing the ideological position that men should be tough, competitive, and emotionally inexpressive can have detrimental effects on a man’s physical and mental health (Courtenay, 2000)....
[...]
...At the same time, it is critical to raise awareness about specific masculinity norms that may be maladaptive (Brooks, 1998; Courtenay, 2000; Helgeson, 1995)....
[...]
...In other words, gender is a verb rather than a noun (Courtenay, 2000; West & Zimmerman, 1987)....
[...]
TL;DR: The theory of fundamental causes of the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and mortality has persisted despite radical changes in the diseases and risk factors that are presumed to explain it is explained.
Abstract: Link and Phelan (1995) developed the theory of fundamental causes to explain why the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and mortality has persisted despite radical changes in the diseases and risk factors that are presumed to explain it. They proposed that the enduring association results because SES embodies an array of resources, such as money, knowledge, prestige, power, and beneficial social connections that protect health no matter what mechanisms are relevant at any given time. In this article, we explicate the theory, review key findings, discuss refinements and limits to the theory, and discuss implications for health policies that might reduce health inequalities. We advocate policies that encourage medical and other health-promoting advances while at the same time breaking or weakening the link between these advances and socioeconomic resources. This can be accomplished either by reducing disparities in socioeconomic resources themselves or by developing interventions that, by their nature, are more equally distributed across SES groups.
1,853 citations
TL;DR: The history and central tenets of intersectionalities are described, some theoretical and methodological challenges are addressed, and the benefits of intersectionality for public health theory, research, and policy are highlighted.
Abstract: Intersectionality is a theoretical framework that posits that multiple social categories (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status) intersect at the micro level of individual experience to reflect multiple interlocking systems of privilege and oppression at the macro, social-structural level (e.g., racism, sexism, heterosexism). Public health’s commitment to social justice makes it a natural fit with intersectionality’s focus on multiple historically oppressed populations. Yet despite a plethora of research focused on these populations, public health studies that reflect intersectionality in their theoretical frameworks, designs, analyses, or interpretations are rare. Accordingly, I describe the history and central tenets of intersectionality, address some theoretical and methodological challenges, and highlight the benefits of intersectionality for public health theory, research, and policy.
1,745 citations
TL;DR: Men are less likely than women to seek help from health professionals for problems as diverse as depression, substance abuse, physical disabilities and stressful life events as mentioned in this paper, and the reasons and processes behind this issue have received limited attention.
Abstract: Aim. This paper reviews the key research literature regarding men's health-related help seeking behaviour.
Background. There is a growing body of research in the United States to suggest that men are less likely than women to seek help from health professionals for problems as diverse as depression, substance abuse, physical disabilities and stressful life events. Previous research has revealed that the principle health related issue facing men in the UK is their reluctance to seek access to health services.
Method. The investigation of men's health-related help seeking behaviour has great potential for improving both men and women's lives and reducing national health costs through the development of responsive and effective interventions. A search of the literature was conducted using CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO and the Cochrane Library databases.
Results. Studies comparing men and women are inadequate in explaining the processes involved in men's help seeking behaviour. However, the growing body of gender-specific studies highlights a trend of delayed help seeking when they become ill. A prominent theme among white middle class men implicates ‘traditional masculine behaviour’ as an explanation for delays in seeking help among men who experience illness. The reasons and processes behind this issue, however, have received limited attention.
Conclusions. Principally, the role of masculine beliefs and the similarities and differences between men of differing background requires further attention, particularly given the health inequalities that exist between men of differing socio-economic status and ethnicity. Further research using heterogeneous samples is required in order to gain a greater understanding of the triggers and barriers associated with the decision making process of help seeking behaviour in men who experience illness.
1,493 citations
References
More filters
Journal Article•
8,507 citations
3,575 citations
2,172 citations
TL;DR: The physician's degree of resourcefulness, i.e., the ability to deal skillfully and promptly with new situations, is important for changing the health behaviors of patients within the constraints of a brief office visit, was in short supply among primary care physicians selected for their interest in preventive medicine.
Abstract: The physician's degree of resourcefulness, i.e., the ability to deal skillfully and promptly with new situations, is important for changing the health behaviors of patients within the constraints of a brief office visit. This quality, however, was in short supply among 15 primary care physicians selected for their interest in preventive medicine. The physicians tended to rely on a single approach for changing specific health behaviors of patients, restricted referrals to community services and other health specialists, relied almost exclusively on fear for motivating patients and expressed considerable pessimism about changing the health behaviors of older patients. The physicians uniformly reported that their inadequate education and the lack of reimbursement influenced how they counseled their patients. A good place to begin to rectify this situation is the required reading of the Guide to Clinical Preventive Services for medical students and residents, and continuing education opportunities for practic...
2,030 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that differences in the ways that men and women respond to their own depressive episodes, whatever the origin of these episodes, may be an important source of the sex differences observed in depression.
Abstract: A large body of evidence indicates that women are more likely than men to show unipolar depression. Five classes of explanations for these sex differences are examined and the evidence for each class is reviewed. Not one of these explanations adequately accounts for the magnitude of the sex differences in depression. Finally, a response set explanation for the sex differences in depression is proposed. According to this explanation, men are more likely to engage in distracting behaviors that dampen their mood when depressed, but women are more likely to amplify their moods by ruminating about their depressed states and the possible causes of these states. Regardless of the initial source of a depressive episode (i.e., biological or psychological) men's more active responses to their negative moods may be more adaptive on average than women's less active, more ruminative responses. The epidemiology of a disorder can provide important clues to its etiology. When a disorder only strikes persons from one geographical region, one social class, or one gender, we can ask what characteristics of the vulnerable group might be making its members vulnerable. A frequent finding in epidemiological studies of mental disorders is that women are more prone to unipolar affective disorders than are men (Boyd & Weissman, 1981; Weissman & Klerman, 1977). A number of different explanations have been proposed to account for women's greater vulnerability to depression. Previous reviews of these explanations (e.g., Weissman & Klerman, 1977) have been quite brief and uncritical. In this article, the evidence for sex differences in unipolar depression first is summarized, then the most prominent explanations proposed for these sex differences are discussed in detail. These explanations include those attributing the differences to the response biases of subjects, as well as biological, psychoanalytic, sex role, and learned helplessness explanations. Although most of the proposed explanations for sex differences in depression have received some empirical support, not one of them has been definitively supported and not one as yet accounts for the magnitude of sex differences in depression. In the final section of this article it is suggested that differences in the ways that men and women respond to their own depressive episodes, whatever the origin of these episodes, may be an important source of the sex differences observed in depression.
1,905 citations