Advancing Understanding of the Negative Outcomes of Traditional Gender Roles: The Importance of Examining Relevant Contexts and Individual Differences

Abstract

The current research examines when and for whom the negative outcomes of traditional gender roles are most likely to emerge. Chapter One provides a theoretical and empirical account of the negative outcomes arising from traditional gender roles, emphasizing that the rigid and demanding social pressures and expectations associated with traditional gender roles can cause stress and strain. On the basis of this foundation, I propose that the negative outcomes of traditional gender roles should (1) emerge most strongly in contexts in which relevant gender role pressures are particularly salient and (2) be most pronounced for individuals who are more sensitive to gender role pressures. I test this proposition in nine studies that collectively illustrate that understanding of the impact of traditional gender roles is enhanced when studied within theoretically-relevant contexts and for individuals most likely to be vulnerable to these negative outcomes. In Chapter Two, I investigate how examining relevant contexts and individual differences can advance understanding of the negative outcomes of men’s masculinity threat. Four studies and a meta-analytic summary illustrated that men were most likely to enact aggression towards their intimate partner when they experienced masculinity threat in the form of low relationship power, but this association only emerged for men higher in masculine gender role stress who were particularly sensitive to this threat. In Chapters Three and Four, I investigate how examining relevant contexts and individual differences advances understanding of the negative outcomes of women’s femininity threat. In Chapter Three, I present two studies illustrating that on days (Study 1) or weeks (Study 2) women felt less feminine they experienced within-person decreases in selfesteem, but this association was strongest for women higher in feminine gender role stress who were particularly sensitive to this femininity threat. In Chapter Four, I present two studies showing that on days women experienced greater romantic rejection they reported decreases in body dissatisfaction, but this association was strongest for women higher in attractiveness contingent self-esteem. In Chapter Five, I provide an extension of previous work by exploring how men’s and women’s traditional beliefs about both their own and their partner’s gender roles have important implications for their sexual assertiveness. Men’s traditional beliefs about women’s gender roles and women’s traditional beliefs about men’s gender roles predicted important variance in their sexual assertiveness, even when accounting for their beliefs about their own traditional gender roles. Taken together, the studies presented in this thesis advance understanding of the outcomes of traditional gender roles by demonstrating when and for whom these negative outcomes are likely to occur.