The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

274 Chapter 8

Emotional Inexpressiveness

A third barrier to closeness in men’s same-sex

relationships is emotional inexpressiveness.

Men tend to express less emotion in rela-

tionships compared to women. Inexpressive-

ness may help to maintain power, but at the

expense of closeness. Men may avoid ex-

pressing their emotions because doing so

would appear feminine. Revealing weaknesses

and vulnerabilities is inconsistent with the

male role. However, failing to reveal one’s

emotions and problems makes it difficult

for others to provide support when needed.

Indeed, restricted emotions have been linked

to reduced social support, which has been

linked to increased psychological distress

(Wester et al., 2007). One way in which men

are able to be expressive in the context of re-

lationships is by compensating with increased

masculine behavior in other arenas, such as

more instrumental behavior (Migliaccio, 2009).

In fact, self-disclosure between men usually

takes place in the context of shared activities

(Radmacher & Azmitia, 2006). Having some-

thing to do during the interaction may make

men feel more comfortable self-disclosing.

Another reason men may not self-

disclose as much as women has nothing to do

with men’s personalities but has to do with

society’s expectations of men. This would

be a structural level of analysis. Men are not

viewed as favorably as women when they

among the different kinds of competition

mattered more for boys’ than girls’ friend-

ships. Another kind of competition that has

been studied is personal development com-

petition, which is aimed at using competition

for self-improvement. Personal development

competition appears to be a healthy kind

of competition for both males and females

(Burckle et al., 1999; Ryckman et al., 1997).

Homophobia

Another reason men are uncomfortable with

closeness in their same-sex friendships is

homophobia, defined as the fear of homo-

sexuality or the fear of appearing homosexual.

Because men do not want to appear to be ho-

mosexual, they limit their physical contact and

their emotional closeness with other men, re-

serving those kinds of contacts for romantic

relationships with women. Homophobia seems

to be tied to men’s identities. Men who have

higher gender self-esteem, meaning that they

are more likely to endorse statements such as

“I am proud to be a male,” have more nega-

tive attitudes toward homosexuals (Falomir-

Pichastor & Mugny, 2009). Interestingly, when

the threat of homosexuality is removed by con-

vincing men that homosexuality has a biologi-

cal basis, homophobia is reduced. Apparently,

upon hearing that homosexuality is due to biol-

ogy, heterosexual men no longer have a need to

differentiate themselves from homosexuals.

TABLE 8.1 THE NATURE OF COMPETITION

Hypercompetition intense desire to win, associated with hostility; disregard

for opponent

“I get upset when X wins.”

“Winning makes me feel powerful.”

Nonhostile social comparison comparison of achievement without hostility

“I like to play X to see who is better.”

Enjoyment of competition intense involvement in activity

“I like to playX for the fun of it.”

Personal development competition competition for self-improvement

“Competition helps me to be the best I can be.”

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