Impacts of Men's Gender-transformative Personal Narratives: A Qualitative Evaluation of the Men's Story Project

Operationalising masculinities in theories and practices of gender-transformative health interventions: a scoping review

Gender-transformative health interventions that involve men and boys are gaining global reach, adaptability to specific geographical, population and epidemiological contexts, public endorsement, and conceptual sophistication. However, the ways in which masculinities are conceptualised and operationalised in theory and practice across these interventions remains unclear. The purpose of this scoping review is to map intervention studies that conceptually grapple with masculinities and analyse: a) how the concept of masculinities is adapted and operationalised in gender-transformative interventions, with respect to intervention population and context, b) what the relationship between the concept of masculinities and its wider theoretical embedding is, and c) on which levels transformation can be observed when working with 'masculinities'.We conducted a search in APA Psych Articles, APA PsycINFO, and CINAHL via EBSCO, MedLine, PubMed, and Web of Sciences (December 2021) looking for peer-reviewed studies on gender-transformative health interventions which engaged with masculinities conceptually. There were no restrictions regarding language, publication date, or geography. Forty-two articles were included in this review. Our abductive analysis finds that 'hegemonic masculinities' is a central concept in almost all included studies. This shows how the concept is adaptable to a range of different intervention contexts. The review further identifies five theoretical approaches, that help operationalise masculinities on an analytical level: feminist framework, affect theory, critical pedagogy, theories of social change, and ecological approaches. Lastly, this review draws out six levels on which transformation can be observed in the intervention outcomes: relational level, symbolic level, material level, affective level, cognitive-behavioural level, and community-structural level. The discussion underlines that processes and practices of (gender) transformation also require engagement with theories of transformation more widely and advocates for theoretical pluralism. Lastly, implications for practice, including preventative, ecological and community-based care models, are drawn out.

Perceptions and Interpretation of Contemporary Masculinities in Western Culture: A Systematic Review

The social construct of masculinity evolves in response to changes in society and culture. Orthodox masculinity is mostly considered to be hegemonic and is evidenced by the dominance of men over women and other, less powerful men. Contemporary shifts in masculinity have seen an emergence of new masculinities that challenge traditional male stereotypes. This systematic review aims to review and synthesize the existing empirical research on contemporary masculinities and to conceptualize how they are understood and interpreted by men themselves. A literature search was undertaken on 10 databases using terms regularly used to identify various contemporary masculinities. Analysis of the 33 included studies identified four key elements that are evident in men’s descriptions of contemporary masculinity. These four elements, (a) Inclusivity, (b) Emotional Intimacy, (c) Physicality, and (d) Resistance, are consistent with the literature describing contemporary masculinities, including Hybrid Masculinities and Inclusive Masculinity Theory. The synthesized findings indicate that young, middle-class, heterosexual men in Western cultures, while still demonstrating some traditional masculinity norms, appear to be adopting some aspects of contemporary masculinities. The theories of hybrid and inclusive masculinity suggest these types of masculinities have several benefits for both men and society in general.

Traditional Masculinity and Aggression in Adolescence: Its Relationship with Emotional Processes

Traditional masculinity includes norms that encourage many of the aggressive behaviors whereas traditional femininity emphasizes aggression very little. In addition, the lack of emotional regulation as well as a poor impulse control have been related to aggression and, in particular, with reactive and proactive aggression. The objective of this study is to examine the role of gender stereotypes (masculinity/femininity) in reactive and proactive aggression, through regulatory emotional self-efficacy and emotion regulation. A total of 390 adolescents participated in a longitudinal study in Valencia, Spain. Structural equations modeling (SEM) was employed to explore a two-wave longitudinal model. The results show that femininity relates to reactive aggression through regulatory emotional self-efficacy and emotion regulation. This way, both emotional self-efficacy and emotional regulation mediate the relation between femininity and reactive aggression. Furthermore, reactive and proactive aggression relate positively and directly to masculinity and negatively to femininity. Therefore, violence prevention programs with adolescents should incorporate information to break down gender stereotypes and promote strategies to manage emotions. Such efforts may be helpful to reduce aggressive behaviors and violence.

Evaluating a Tool to Support the Integration of Gender in Programs to Promote Men's Health

Men's disproportionate rate of suicide and substance use has been linked to problematic conformity to traditional masculine ideals. Mental health promotion interventions directed toward men should address the gender-specific needs of men; yet, no tools exist to provide such guidance. To address this need, the Check-Mate tool was developed as part of a global evaluation of the Movember Foundation's Social Innovators Challenge (SIC). The tool provides an initial set of evidence-based guidelines for incorporating gender-related influences in men's mental health promotion programs. This article describes the development of Check-Mate and an evaluation of its usability and usefulness. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, semistructured interviews were conducted with the leads for eight of the SIC projects; they used the tool for these. Data were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Overall, project leads found the tool user-friendly. Identified strengths of Check-Mate included its practicality, adaptability, usefulness for priming thinking on gender sensitization, and value in guiding program planning and implementation. With respect to limitations, project leads explained that the complexity of men's mental health promotion programming may limit applicability of some or all approaches included in Check-Mate. They also expressed concern about how using Check-Mate might reinforce hegemonic masculine ideals. It was suggested that examples illustrating the use of Check-Mate would be a helpful accompaniment to the tool. Findings indicate that Check-Mate is a useful guide in men's mental health promotion programming. In addition to future testing of the tool in different settings, links between the tool's approaches and program outcomes should be explored.