Why some men respond aggressively to threats to manhood

they may feel the need to act aggressively to prove their manhood

Our results suggest that the more social pressure a man feels to be masculine, the more aggressive he may be,” said Adam Stanaland, a Ph.D. candidate in psychology and public policy at Duke and the study’s lead author.

“When those men feel they are not living up to strict gender norms, they may feel the need to act aggressively to prove their manhood — to ‘be a man’.”

The pair of studies considered 195 undergraduate students and a random pool of 391 men ages 18 to 56.

Study participants were asked a series of questions about “gender knowledge.” For men, these included questions on such stereotypical topics such as sports, auto mechanics and home repair. After answering, participants were randomly told their score was either higher or lower than that of an average person of their gender.

To simulate real-world threats to manhood, men who received a low score were also told they were “less manly than the average man.”

‘Be a man’: Why some men respond aggressively to threats to manhood — ScienceDaily