Fridae

A new research suggests that some heterosexual males may respond by increasing their hostility toward gay men when are made to feel insecure about their masculinity, reports Reuters Health.

Researcher Dr Richard H. Gramzow of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts explains, "Men with a threatened male ego may be typically more hostile towards gay men� and that could eventually translate into more aggressive behaviours."

Gramzow had 60 male and female college undergraduates complete questionnaires measuring their individual sense of masculinity and/or femininity.

The questionnaire included a list of personality traits such as "assertive," "nurturing" or "power-oriented." Students were asked "whether they saw that trait as being characteristic of themselves," Gramzow noted.

The study participants were also asked their views on gay men and lesbians. Analysing the results, the researcher found that, among men, "the higher the endorsement of masculine personality traits for the self, the higher the negativity towards gay men," and, to a lesser extent, lesbians.

However, in contrast, there was only a mild correlation between a woman's identification with her gender and her attitudes toward male or female homosexuals.

In a second study, Gramzow passed out bogus questionnaires to generate fictional "Personality Profiles" in an attempt to test what might happen when men felt their sense of masculinity was under threat. As in the first experiment, participants were asked their views on lesbians and gays.

In a completely random fashion, the Boston researcher told half of the students that their Personality Profiles had tested high on "masculine" traits, while the other half were told they scored higher in "feminine" traits.

"Male respondents who received feminine personality feedback subsequently reported extremely negative attitudes toward gay men,'' says Gramzow although their attitudes toward lesbians remained unchanged.

He noted that women who had received masculine personality feedback showed no increase in hostility towards either lesbians or gay men.

Gramzow concludes, "heterosexual males appear to express antipathy toward gay men as a way to express their masculinity."

"It is not difficult to imagine that similar identity concerns could lead to more malevolent attempts to 'distance' the self from any suspicion of homosexuality"--even gay-bashing, he added.

So why might men invest more of their identity in their gender, compared with women? "The notion is that men in this society--and many other societies--are judged by how assertive they are, how masculine a presence they give off," he said in an interview with Reuters Health.

"Women, at least in terms of dress and things like that, are allowed a little more flexibility in that regard. But any time a man starts taking on any sort of feminine characteristics, it can lead to a pretty harsh (punishment)," the researcher explained.

The findings were presented here earlier this week at a meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.