Hegemonic masculinity, gender, and social distance: the mediating role of perceived dangerousness

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.

KEYWORDS:

• Hegemonic masculinity
• perceived dangerousness
• social distance
• gender

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The two terms are sometimes used interchangeably.

2. We thank an anonymous reviewer for this suggestion.

3. Two hundred and ninety-one people accessed the online survey. However, 68 participants were excluded from inferential analysis as they (a) were younger than 18 years of age (n= 5), (b) did not provide their age (n= 13), (c) failed to respond to any survey items other than the demographics (n= 49), or (d) provided the same response to every question (i.e. a one [1]; n= 1). Because of these exclusions, data from 223 individuals (76.6% of respondents) were analysed. The demographic details of the excluded respondents are not included in the ‘Participants’ section above.

4. Full analysis available from the corresponding author upon request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

George Van Doorn

George Van Doorn is a senior lecturer and researcher in Psychology at Federation University Australia. Prior to working at Federation University, George worked at Monash University as a lecturer in Psychological Studies. He has over 50 publications in areas such as sensory integration, temperature perception, illusions, consciousness, and personality. His predominant interest, currently, lies in exploring masculinity.

Evita March

Evita March obtained her PhD in evolutionary and social psychology, and is currently employed as a senior lecturer and researcher at Federation University Australia. Evita’s research interests include interpersonal relationships, cyberpsychology, and personality. In particular, Evita is interested in how people behave online, and she has explored a range of online behaviours including cyberbullying, cyberstalking, online dating, trolling, and self-presentation.