Rozprawy doktorskie na temat „Psychology of men”

This research explores what happens to some men when, despite the best of intentions and heroic efforts on all sides, a marriage ends in divorce. Using a blend of alchemical hermeneutics and hermeneutic phenomenology, this qualitative study explores the lived experience of 5 heterosexual men who suffered psychologically in divorce. Divorce was examined from Freudian, Jungian, and archetypal perspectives using the depth psychological lenses of alchemy, mythology, and fairy tale. A hybrid method of qualitative analysis was created that incorporated the use of psychodrama to analyze the data. From the results of this study, the journey through divorce for suffering men can be seen as being comprised of 3 stages: a Coming Storm, a Tempest, and an Aftermath. The intrapsychic destruction experienced by many men in divorce was also viewed as an attempt at an undoing of the hieros gamos, or sacred marriage. From the results of this investigation, it is further postulated that such a divorce may be a psychological impossibility. The author’s experience as a divorced man informs his observations and conclusions.

This quantitative study examines how attachment and masculinity influence men in their participation in social groups and support or therapy groups as measured by the ECR-RS (Fraley, Brumbaugh, Heffernan, & Vicary, 2011) and the MRNI-SF (Levant, Hall, & Rankin, 2013). An online survey was given to 308 U.S. male adults asking questions about their attachment to their primary partner, their family of origin, social groups they participate in, support or therapy groups they participate in, and their endorsement of traditional masculine gender norms. The results from this study suggest the following: that men will have the same level of attachment to their family of origin as they do to both romantic dyadic relationships and to social groups they participate in, men are more securely attached the more they participate in groups, more traditionally masculine men are more drawn to competitive type social groups, more traditionally masculine men tend to have a more avoidant attachment to groups, and masculinity endorsement doesn’t affect men’s level of participation in groups. Keywords: men, attachment, masculinity, groups, gender, norms

This study hypothesized that differences in sex behaviors of men and women with sex addiction would mirror sex behaviors differences characteristic of men and women in general. A sample of 45 persons with sex addiction was obtained from social media websites. A validated sexual addiction questionnaire and gender-specific sex behavior questionnaire (GBQ) were administered. Results confirmed that all subjects had sex addiction. Sex addiction scores for men were universally higher than for women across all domains of sex addiction; all differences were statistically significant. Of 22 GBQ questions, 16 trended in the predicted direction; six did not. The proportion of endorsements in line with the hypothesis was significantly different from chance, suggesting that differences in sex behaviors of men and women with sex addiction mirror those of men and women in general. Four findings differed from the hypothesis, however. First, men with sex addiction had fewer relationships at one time than women. Second, men were less likely than women to seek escort or phone services, pay for sexually explicit phone calls, or use personal ads to find partners. Third, men and women equally endorsed being more likely to have sex with someone they know rather than anonymous sex partners. Fourth, women more often reported having one-night stands than men. These gender-specific behaviors deviate from past research, suggesting that men and women with sex addiction may choose some sexual behaviors atypical of their gender. Cultural and technological changes that may be impacting these novel sex behaviors were explored.

When marriage equality became legal in 2015, more gay men started getting married. With minimal research on qualities leading to perceived marital success, mental health professionals could not offer guidance on strengthening marital satisfaction for these couples. Further, gay men had few gay role models for marital success to provide guidance and insights. To help address this lack of research, this dissertation focused on how gay men fostered marital success.

In this study, constructivist grounded theory was utilized to flexibly examine and analyze the qualities that lead to perceived marital success for eight married gay men from across the United States. Two rounds of interviews were conducted to gather narrative data and distinguish categories and properties that captured the success characteristics identified through participants lived experiences.

Findings indicate that gay men feel successful when their relationship needs and feelings of belongingness are satisfied, and they have the ability to dexterously apply relationship skills to build a strong relationship framework while working as a team to overcome potential barriers. Parenting, feelings of security, and negotiating sexual agreements were important relationship experiences for these couples.

Mental health professionals who are looking to help married gay men should consider the individual histories, environmental supports available, communication style, and the dyadic aspirations for these couples. Future research should focus on ethnic and socioeconomic diversity, and researchers should investigate marital success for couples whose marriages were not preceded by ceremonial commitments or legally binding partnerships. These parameters would expand the scope of generalizability.

The present study examined the influence of UV photography (seeing an image of one's skin damage) and receiving choice-promoting sun protection information on college men's sun protection cognitions. In particular, the aim of this dissertation was to study whether promoting personal choice (by providing information on sun protection behaviors that emphasizes choices and options) enhanced the impact of UV photography on men's sun protection cognitions. The cognitions assessed in this study were informed by the Prototype Willingness Model: conditional perceived vulnerability to skin cancer and photoaging, attitudes toward sun protection, prototypes of the typical young adult male who does and does not protect his skin from the sun, willingness to engage in sun protection and risk behaviors, and intentions to engage in sun protection behaviors, sun-risk behaviors, and skin examinations. An additional goal of the study was to examine whether the promotion of choice in the context of UV photography would be particularly influential among men who report high levels of conformity to masculine norms. Therefore, masculinity was explored as a moderator of experimental effects on cognitions. Male young adults completed an initial online survey assessing background information, baseline cognitions, and masculinity, before participating in the experimental portion of the study. During the experiment, participants were randomly assigned to one of six conditions that varied on two variables: (1) whether or not they received their UV photograph (yes versus no), and (2) the type of sun protection information that they received (no information, information that framed sun protection behaviors as recommendations to follow, or information that framed these behaviors as individual choices to make). Following the experimental manipulations, participants completed a second computer-based survey assessing sun protection cognitions. Results showed several significant main effects of UV photography, thus partially supporting results of prior studies that have found this intervention approach to be effective. Perceptions of choice correlated with several cognitions. However, the information condition manipulation checks, main effects, and interactions with UV photography provided only limited evidence for the hypothesis that receiving choice-promoting information would enhance the impact of UV photography, and no evidence that choice information is an effective standalone intervention. A significant three-way interaction between masculinity, UV photography, and the information conditions revealed a pattern similar to one found in a prior study - that the conditional perceived vulnerability of high masculine men was more affected by the interventions than was the conditional perceived vulnerability of less masculine men. There was a similar UV photography effect among high masculine men on protective prototypes, although additional moderation analyses showed inconsistent patterns. Overall, the results involving the information condition and masculinity were inconsistent; however, they suggest future directions for research on sun protection and risk cognitions, as well as strategies for informing young men about sun protection.

The present investigation was an online quantitative study that examined the associations between religion-based homonegative messages, internalized homonegativity, depressive symptoms, and sexual HIV risk behavior among a nationally recruited sample of 428 Black men who have sex with men (BMSM). The men in the sample had a mean age of 34, primarily resided the Southeastern region of the United States and identified as African American and gay. A series of hierarchal multiple regression and binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to test a path model that linked religion-based homonegative messages with sexual HIV risk behavior. Religion-based homonegative messages were found to be significantly associated with internalized homonegativity; internalized homonegativity was found to be significantly associated with depressive symptoms; and depressive symptoms were found to be significantly associated with sexual HIV risk behavior. The implications of these findings for mental health professionals, researchers, HIV prevention workers, and clergy are discussed.

An essential aspect of discerning how men can become effective partners in reaching gender equity in the U.S., is to understand how men perceive their own masculinity. In consensus with Wanger (2011), I believe that promoting men's' healthy masculinity development is a feminist act and an act of social justice. Within the scope of social science research it is of extreme significance to study men as men as they were often "everybody" and effectually "nobody" (Kimmel & Davis, 2011). This study adds to and highlights importance of research on men and masculinities. Selecting an often privileged and significant subculture of men, this case study surveyed 27 White evangelical college-aged men (WECM) of whom five participated in an in-depth semi-structure phenomenological-based interview at a single faith-based university. Based on the Subjective Masculine Experiences model (Wong et al., 2011) the researcher focused on how these men made "sense of their masculinity by connecting their life experiences [to dimensions] of masculine norms and ideology" (Wong et al., 2011, p. 238). The participants were asked to attribute levels of psychological stress to each dimension. Data gathered clustered into seven salient dimensions for this population: Responsibility, Family, Family- Provider, Faith and Religion, Emotional Toughness, Physical Body and Resistance. Analysis revealed that stress was associated with all of the dimensions, especially with Family-Provider. This paper provides the context for this study, its philosophical framework, and discussions on its limitations and implications for practice and future action.

Keywords: masculinity; White evangelical, college-aged, men (WECM); phenomenology; critical social constructivism; mindful inquiry