Time Spent in the Military as a Moderator of Endorsement of Traditional Masculinity Ideology Predicting Relationship Satisfaction

Objective: Military culture perpetuates traditional masculine norms (Alfred, Good, & Hammer, 2014). The internalization of traditional masculinity has been linked to reduced relationship satisfaction among heterosexual couples (McGraw, 2001). The present study investigated the role of military service as moderator of the relationship between masculinity ideology and relationship satisfaction. Method: 155 heterosexual male military personnel in romantic relationships recruited from the internet reported length of service, endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology, and relationship satisfaction. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to evaluate if length of military service moderated the relationship between masculinity and relationship satisfaction. Results: Results were not consistent with previous findings that endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology predicts relationship satisfaction for men (McGraw, 2001). In addition, length of military service did not act as a moderator as hypothesized. Conclusion: Additional research is needed to clarify these results which conflict with recent findings on traditional masculinity and intimate relationships. Possible influential factors and directions for future research are explored

Work and Family Variables as Related to Paternal Engagement, Responsibility, and Accessibility in Dual-Earner Couples with Young Children

Fathers and mothers (N = 75 dual-earner couples) of preschool-aged children completed questionnaires that examined work and family variables as related to paternal involvement in three areas: engagement (i.e., directly interacting with the child), responsibility (i.e., scheduling activities and being accountable for the child\u27s well-being), and accessibility (i.e., being available to the child but not in direct interaction). Fathers\u27 reports of responsibility and accessibility were significantly predicted by structural variables and beliefs; however, fathers\u27 reports of engagement were not predicted by work and family variables. Mothers\u27 reports of work and family variables did not predict their reports of father involvement. These findings suggest that for fathers of young children, parental involvement appears mainly self-determined

Alexithymia in Men: How and When Do Emotional Processing Deficiencies Occur?

The present study extended existing research on alexithymia in men, investigating whether the deficit in processing emotions occurs early in the process, as a result of dissociation or repression, or later, as a result of suppression. We also examined the assumption in Levant’s (2011) normative male alexithymia hypothesis that men with alexithymia would show the greatest deficits in identifying words for emotions discouraged by masculine norms that expressed vulnerability and attachment. Study 1, with 258 college men, showed that scores on measures of alexithymia and normative male alexithymia were more strongly and uniquely predicted by suppression than repression and dissociation, while controlling for positive and negative affect and depression. Study 2 used semantic priming with 85 college men, and revealed that men with alexithymia showed more errors in lexical decision performance using target emotion words discouraged by masculine norms as compared to men without alexithymia. In addition, men with and without alexithymia did not differ in their accuracy using target emotion words that are encouraged by masculine norms. We also found that the disruption in emotional processing among men with alexithymia occurred at 500 ms stimulus onset asynchrony, which is slow enough for conscious processing, supporting an explanation of suppression as the mechanism for the inhibition.Keywords: Repression, Inhibition, Suppression, Semantic Priming, Normative Male Alexithymi

Family therapy : a comprehensive overview

xii, 308 p.; 23 cm