Department of Psychology, Iowa State University.
J Couns Psychol. 2011 Jul;58(3):368-382. doi: 10.1037/a0023688.
The role of conformity to dominant U.S. masculine norms as an antecedent to help-seeking attitudes in men has been established using convenience samples made up largely of college-age and European American males. However, the role of conformity to masculine norms on help-seeking attitudes for noncollege-age men or for men from diverse backgrounds is not well understood. To fill this gap in the literature, the present study examined the cross-cultural relevance of a mediational model of the relationships between conformity to dominant U.S. masculine norms and attitudes toward counseling through the mediator of self-stigma of seeking counseling for 4,773 men from both majority and nonmajority populations (race/ethnicity and sexual orientation). Structural equation modeling results showed that the model established using college males from majority groups (European American, heterosexual) may be applicable to a community sample of males from differing racial/ethnic groups and sexual orientations. However, some important differences in the presence and strengths of the relationships between conformity to dominant masculine norms and the other variables in the model were present across different racial/ethnic groups and sexual orientations. These findings suggest the need to pay specific theoretical and clinical attention to how conformity to dominant masculine norms and self-stigma are linked to unfavorable attitudes toward help seeking for these men, in order to encourage underserved men's help-seeking behavior.
主流美国男性规范的遵从作为男性寻求帮助态度的一个先行因素已经得到了确立，这是使用方便样本并主要由大学生和欧洲裔美国男性组成的研究结果。然而，对于非大学生或来自不同背景的男性，男性规范的遵从对寻求帮助态度的影响还不是很清楚。为了填补这一文献空白，本研究通过中介变量——寻求咨询的自我污名——检验了主流美国男性规范的遵从与咨询态度之间关系的中介模型的跨文化相关性，研究对象为来自多数群体（欧洲裔美国人、异性恋）和非多数群体（种族/族裔和性取向）的 4773 名男性。结构方程模型的结果表明，使用来自多数群体的大学生男性建立的模型可能适用于来自不同种族/族裔群体和性取向的男性社区样本。然而，在不同的种族/族裔群体和性取向中，主导男性规范的遵从与模型中其他变量之间关系的存在和强度存在一些重要差异。这些发现表明，需要特别关注主导男性规范的遵从和自我污名与这些男性对寻求帮助的不利态度之间的联系，以鼓励服务不足的男性寻求帮助。
