Playboy-type men have a higher risk of psychological problems, study suggests

Psychologists looking at 10 years of data from nearly 20,000 men found that those who value having power over women and endorse playboy-type behaviour and other traditional notions of masculinity are more likely to suffer from psychological problems - and less likely to seek out help.

The new meta-analysis, which was published Monday in the Journal of Counseling Psychology, synthesised 78 studies on masculinity and mental health gathered between 2003 and 2013. The participants ranged in age from 12 to over 65, and the vast majority were men. A little more than half of the studies involved predominantly white men, though some focused on African Americans or Asian Americans. Most of the studies didn’t ask respondents’ sexual orientation, but among those that did, most of the participants were straight.

Researchers then identified 11 norms considered to be “traditionally masculine” - desire to win, need for emotional control, risk-taking, violence, dominance, sexual promiscuity or playboy behaviour, self-reliance, primacy of work, power over women, disdain for homosexuality and pursuit of status - and looked to see if they were associated with particular mental health outcomes.

In general, the men who stuck more strongly to these norms were more likely to experience problems like depression, stress, body image issues, substance abuse and negative social functioning. They were also less likely to turn to counselling to help deal with those problems. The effect was particularly strong for men who emphasised playboy behaviour, power over women and self-reliance.

Lead author Y. Joel Wong of Indiana University wasn’t surprised by the results. “It’s not rocket science,” he told Popular Science. “It’s something that’s been demonstrated over 20 years of research.”

A growing group of psychologists are interested in studying “toxic masculinity” - the idea that some traditional ideas about how men should behave are harmful to men, women and society overall. The point is not to demonise men, or the attributes some of them possess. It’s more to understand how behaviours encouraged in men can be damaging for everyone involved.