Examining Masculinity Threats: Impact On Perceptions Of Psychological And Physical Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious problem affecting both women and men. Despite increasing awareness, nearly 30% of women and 20% of men still experience physical, emotional, or sexual IPV. Current research examines men’s reactions to IPV scenarios from the perspective of Bosson, Vandello, Burnaford, Weaver, and Wasti’s (2009) theory of precarious masculinity and considers factors unique to men such as masculinity threat. Masculinity has been described as “precarious” as it can be difficult to maintain and easy to lose. Often, men try to restore their masculinity though aggressive actions. Thus, we believe that men whose masculinity is threatened may evaluate a target of IPV more negatively and perceive the incident as less severe than men whose masculinity is not threatened. Researchers recruited 386 heterosexual men. Participants took a bogus personality test and received false feedback. Those in the threat condition were told they scored similar to most women; in the control, they received no feedback. Participants then read one of four scenarios depicting physical or psychological IPV at low or a high levels of severity. Finally, participants answered questions regarding their perceptions of the scenario, perpetrator, and target. Masculinity threat was found to decrease both perceived severity and willingness to intervene in the most physical IPV scenario. In addition, participants in this condition reported they would be less upset by witnessing the violence and expressed greater acceptance of IPV. This research suggests that masculinity threat may increase the acceptability of IPV and reduce men’s willingness to intervene