Impact of a Psychology of Masculinities Course on Women's Attitudes toward Male Gender Roles

Individuals are involved in an ongoing construction of gender ideology from two opposite but intertwined directions: they experience pressure to follow gender role norms, and they also participate in the social construction of these norms. An individual's appraisal, positive or negative, of gender roles is called a "gender role attitude." These lie on a continuum from traditional to progressive. Traditional gender role attitudes have been linked to primarily negative outcomes.;This thesis examines attitudes toward---and beliefs about---male gender in women completing an elective course on the psychology of men and masculinities. Study 1 assessed how these students' (N = 32) narrative definitions of "man" and "masculinity" changed from the beginning to the end of the class. While there was a significant decrease in the presence of the male role norms of achievement/status and aggression over time, there were no differences in the number of references to men's avoidance of femininity, homophobia, non-relational attitudes toward sex, restrictive emotionality, or self-reliance. Because the coding scheme only measured presence of these male role norms rather than framing or valence, additional characteristics of students' responses are discussed. Study 1 also compared women's ( N = 20) pre- and post-class male role norm attitudes. Endorsement of global male role norms, aggression, self-reliance, and a composite of particular other male role norms (i.e., "Factor 1" of the Male Role Norms Inventory) were all significantly lower at the end of the class than at the beginning.;Study 2 examined potential selection effects in the male role attitudes of women choosing to complete the psychology of men and masculinities course (n = 20) by comparing them to those of women in a psychology research methods course required for the academic major (n = 19). It was determined that pre-class male role attitudes did not differ significantly between the two classes. However, small sample sizes severely limited the statistical power to detect such a difference, and other possible explanations for the lack of difference are considered.;Study 3 explored the relationship between women's gender role stress (GRS), which describes stress from coping with restrictive feminine expectations, and attitudes toward male gender roles (N = 32). Results showed that women's GRS did not significantly correlate with overall male role attitudes or with specific subcomponents of these role norms (i.e., self-reliance, aggression, and Factor 1). Thus, there was no evidence that gender role pressures experienced by women relate to their gender expectations for men.;While many studies have examined change in attitudes toward women's gender roles, particularly in the context of women's and gender studies courses, there is a lack of research on women's attitudes toward men's roles and the impact on those attitudes of gender coursework focused on masculinity. This research is the first to provide evidence regarding: 1) changes in women's attitudes toward male role norms, and 2) changes in gender role attitudes among students taking a course on the psychology of men and masculinities. Because both men's and women's attitudes toward male role norms are linked to a number of measures of well-being, this research suggests gender-focused education as a potential strategy for improving students' health and relationship quality.