The present research examines men’s self-conscious discomfort while imagining performing counter-stereotypical (traditionally feminine) behaviors as compared to stereotypical (traditionally masculine) behaviors, as a function of traditional masculinity endorsement and perceived social changes in men’s gender norms (men’s feminization) in two distinct cultural populations (U.S. Americans and Kosovan Albanians). Experiment 1 (n = 192, U.S.) confirmed prior findings by showing that men, as compared to women, experienced more self-conscious discomfort when imagining performing counter-stereotypical (vs. stereotypical) behaviors. Experiments 2 (n = 292, U.S.) and 3 (n = 191, Kosovo) focused solely on heterosexual men and experimentally manipulated perceived social changes in men’s gender norms. Results showed that the men’s feminization condition, as compared to a control or masculinity conditions, decreased self-conscious discomfort when imagining performing feminine behaviors among men who endorsed a lower versus higher level of traditional masculinity. Experiment 3 further indicated that this effect was driven by lowered expectations of being misclassified as gay. We discuss the relevance of these findings for both the gender and sexual prejudice literature.

本研究考察了男性在想象执行反陈规定型（传统女性化）行为与陈规定型（传统男性化）行为时的自觉不适，这是传统男性气质认可和男性性别规范（男性女性化）的感知社会变化的功能。两个不同的文化人群（美国美国人和科索沃阿尔巴尼亚人）。实验 1（n  = 192，美国）证实了先前的发现，表明男性与女性相比，在想象执行反刻板印象（与刻板印象）行为时会经历更多的自觉不适。实验 2（n  = 292，美国）和 3（n = 191，科索沃）只关注异性恋男性，并通过实验操纵男性性别规范的感知社会变化。结果表明，与对照组或男性化条件相比，男性的女性化条件在想象在支持较低或较高传统男性气质水平的男性中表现女性行为时减少了自觉不适。实验 3 进一步表明，这种影响是由于降低了被错误分类为同性恋的预期。我们讨论了这些发现与性别和性偏见文献的相关性。