The Marlboro men don’t cry: Understanding the gendered perceptions of people seeking mental health care.
Tianyi Li, David Gal
Abstract
= 1118), participants read descriptions of targets with varying psychological or physical symptoms and provided masculinity and femininity ratings of the targets. People seeking help for internalizing symptoms (e.g., depressed moods) are perceived to be less masculine and more feminine than those seeking help for physical symptoms, yet the reverse pattern was found for people seeking help for externalizing symptoms (e.g., angry outbursts). In addition, the knowledge of a depression diagnosis decreased masculinity ratings and increased femininity ratings of male targets with physical symptoms (but not those with psychological symptoms), suggesting the power of labeling in shaping perceptions. Importantly, seeking help affects how men are perceived above and beyond symptomology: Men who downplay physical symptoms are perceived to be more masculine; whereas those who seek help for psychological symptoms are perceived to be more feminine. The association between help-seeking and masculinity ideologies shapes person perception, particularly because help-seeking violates norms of masculinity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).