The male gender role and men’s psychological distress: A review

Abstract

This review examines the psychological research surrounding masculinity and the attendant concepts relating to the male gender role. Its specific focus is within what has been called the ‘social learning paradigm’ (Addis & Cohane, 2005, p.637). The social learning paradigm is consistent with a social constructionist approach in that it views human behaviour as not arising from innate essentialist traits, but instead as being influenced and constructed by the interaction between the environment and the individual’s own cognitions and behaviour (Bandura & Walters, 1963). However, the review notes that there is disagreement and debate surrounding the social learning paradigm’s relationship to the social constructionist view of masculinity and so also details the social constructionist view in order to highlight this. It gives an outline of some of the theoretical views and the pertaining measures that have been designed to research masculinity and the male gender role, and also focuses on the psychological distress that has been theorised to arise as a result of the norms associated with that role.