The heterosexual male experience of gender role threat: A phenomenological analysis

Men are socialized into gender normative behaviors from an early age, and experience significant social pressure to conform to these role norms throughout the lifespan. Joseph Pleck (1981) suggested that gender roles have negative effects on men, and proposed the Gender Role Strain paradigm to explain these effects. He described three components of Gender Role Strain: dysfunction-strain, the negative effects of rigid conformity to male role norms, discrepancy-strain, the anxiety and other negative emotional effects resulting from violations of male role norms, and trauma-strain, the negative social outcomes resulting from role violations. Using the Gender Role Strain paradigm as a guiding framework, the current study investigated heterosexual men's experiences of challenges to their masculinity, in order to better understand men's experiences of discrepancy- and trauma-strain. Because these are relatively unstudied phenomena, the current study utilized a qualitative descriptive phenomenological methodology, featuring a non-directive interview format, in order to best solicit participant narratives that were free from experimenter bias. The data analysis suggested two experiential structures. The first was highly consistent with Pleck's articulation of discrepancy-strain, confirming that awareness of a role discrepancy may trigger critical self-evaluation, followed by shame and concern for social consequences. The second structure suggested that many men experience social situations in which they are made to feel powerless as emasculating, which are thus an important trigger for discrepancy-strain. The author discusses the implications of these findings on working clinically with men, including a discussion of how discrepancy-strain may inform or interact with presenting issues, and how power dynamics between the therapist and the male client, as well as unintended emasculations, may impede the therapeutic relationship, and makes recommendations for treatment that incorporate these factors.