“What this work shows is that masculinity isn’t just an ideology that men pursue. It’s something we value as a culture,” said lead author Theresa Vescio, a professor of psychology and women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Pennsylvania State University.
“The great thing about masculinity as a cultural ideology is that we can get women to participate in it and endorse it, even if it makes them subordinate. We can get men of color, men of low socioeconomic status, gay men to do so. endorse, even if implicitly subordinate, ‘Vescio said.
This perspective could explain “the increase in Latino and black men who support Trump … or white women who support Trump,” Vescio said.
“This is an interesting study and the results are relatively compelling with regard to the idea that ‘hegemonic masculinity’ predicts candidate moods and attitudes, even after controlling for other variables we might expect to predict political behavior,” said Christopher. Federico, a professor. of political science and psychology at the University of Minnesota, which was not involved in the studies, via email.
The results are observational only and cannot demonstrate direct cause and effect, but are in line with previous research showing that ‘valuing dominance’ and placing a ‘low value on cooperation’ were predictive of support for Trump, Federico said. , who is also the director of the Center for the Study of Political Psychology at the university.
“It makes sense that individuals who value a form of masculinity that emphasizes control, toughness, etc.” would support Trump, Federico said, adding that “individuals who have traditional views on gender and traditional views on the ‘right’. roles for men and women in society tend to be more supportive of Trump, too. “
Seven studies over two election periods
Researchers polled more than 2,000 people in seven separate surveys over two election periods. Six of the investigations were conducted by Vescio and her colleague in the days and months after Trump won his run for president over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016. The seventh investigation was conducted 50 days before the November 2020 election, defeating Trump. through former vice president of the US Joseph Biden.
Participants were recruited from the Pennsylvania State University student pool and from two crowdsourcing applications. Students were given partial lesson credit, while the other participants received $ 0.50 or 9.66 per hour.
While a dominant male preference was predictive of support for Trump, “biased attitudes were more consistent predictors of votes,” the study found. “Additional research is needed to fully understand the results predicted by (hegemonic masculinity) versus open bias,” the study said.
Matthew Feinberg, associate professor of organizational behavior at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, objected to the data being collected after Trump’s 2016 victory over Clinton.
“It could be that people’s attitudes, especially towards masculinity, have been shaped by Trump’s becoming president,” Feinberg said via email. Many people kept their noses closed and voted for him in 2016, choosing to vote for their favorite party, despite Trump’s behavior and his representation of hegemonic masculinity.
However, processes such as cognitive dissonance dictate that people often reconcile their attitudes with behaviors they have undergone, Feinberg continued. “If so, people whose attitude towards Trump and his endorsement of hegemonic masculinity have come to convince themselves that they too have an attitude more in line with Trump’s.”
vescitur pointed to the 2020 study that examined attitudes ahead of the election, and said that cognitive dissonance does not explain the data found.
“We can’t rule it out completely. But the data isn’t quite in line with that, because even if we have control over Republican and Democrat, we get the effects on top of that,” she said.
More than a ‘precarious’ male identity
Findings from the seven studies also suggest that the endorsement of ‘hegemonic masculinity’ is more predictive of support for Trump than a concept called ‘precarious male identity’ or PMI, in which ‘masculinity is earned and maintained through continued behavioral display of masculinity’ , and “temporary lapses in behavioral displays of masculinity can threaten masculinity,” the study authors wrote.
Having a precarious male identity has traditionally been seen as a major reason why men may want to join Trump, but it failed to explain his support among women and some minorities, the study said.
“The underlying idea is that masculinity is more vulnerable than femininity, and must be constantly publicly deserved and enforced. Men who feel (or have been made to feel) that their male status is inadequate tend to be more supportive of Trump,” Federico said.
One reason is that Trump – at least in the persona he publicly interprets – exudes an overly dominant masculinity. So supporting him can be a way to borrow or demonstrate that ethos. one is male by supporting a ‘male’ proxy, ”he said.
There are also studies that have shown that PMI is associated with other “attitudes of an aggressive nature, such as support for firearms culture and militarism,” Federico said, as well as with “increased sexism and opposition to equality.”
“To the extent that Trump is seen as supportive of these positions, people may indirectly end up supporting Trump more because it is believed he endorses them,” he added.
The fact that the new study found that PMI is less predictive than a preference for a hegemonic masculinity makes sense for both genders, Federico explained.