ABSTRACT

Given the aggressive behaviours and negative attitudes associated with hegemonic masculinity, and the fact that men are more likely to commit violent crimes than are women, people might choose to avoid men displaying characteristics consistent with hegemonic masculinity. In a vignette-based study, we assessed whether the gender of a person displaying behaviours and attitudes consistent with hegemonic masculinity influenced people’s desire for social distance. Further, we explored whether the relationship between hegemonic masculinity and social distance was mediated by perceived dangerousness. A fictitious man displaying attitudes and behaviours consistent with hegemonic masculinity was perceived to be more dangerous than a woman displaying the same characteristics, and an increase in perceived dangerousness was associated with a desire for greater social distance. Once this was removed from the direct path, there was no link between the gender of the fictitious individual and social distance, indicating that people do not desire greater social distance from men but from anyone exhibiting ‘toxic’ attitudes and behaviours. The findings have important clinical implications, highlighting the role social connections play in changing prejudiced attitudes and recovery from depression.

摘要

考虑到与霸权男子气概有关的攻击性行为和消极态度，以及男人比女人更容易犯暴力罪行的事实，人们可能会选择避免表现出与霸权男子气概一致的特征的男人。在基于小插图的研究中，我们评估了表现出与霸权男性气质一致的行为和态度的人的性别是否影响了人们对社交距离的渴望。此外，我们探讨了霸权男性气质与社交距离之间的关系是否是由感知的危险所介导的。一个虚拟的男人表现出与霸权男子气概一致的态度和行为，比一个表现出相同特征的女人更加危险，危险程度的提高与渴望更大的社交距离有关。一旦将其从直接路径中删除，虚拟个体的性别与社会距离之间就没有任何联系，这表明人们不希望与男人有更大的社会距离，而是渴望与任何表现出“毒害”态度和行为的人保持距离。该发现具有重要的临床意义，突显了社交关系在改变偏见和减轻抑郁中所起的作用。