Traditional Masculinity Ideologies and Men’s Psychopathology: A Network Analysis

Theoretical Background: Traditional masculinity ideologies (TMIs) comprise social beliefs about how men should be. Higher conformity to TMIs has been associated with increased psychopathology. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Network analysis, increasingly used in clinical psychology, visualizes psychopathology as a system of interconnected symptoms that co-occur through reciprocal reinforcement. Applying this method, we examined the associations between TMIs and psychopathology in men. Methods: An online survey of 517 cisgender men (Mage = 44.3 ± 15.3) from German- speaking Europe rated conformity to TMIs, depression, alcohol abuse, anxiety, anger and aggression, suicidality, and PTSD symptoms using validated self-report questionnaires. Participants were stratified into high TMI and low TMI groups by median split. Four networks were estimated: Models 1 and 2 compared high vs. low TMI groups while Models 3 and 4 examined the total sample, with TMIs as nodes in the psychopathology network. Results: Men with high conformity to TMIs exhibited elevated psychopathology. No significant differences in the psychopathology network structure were found between the TMI groups. Model 3 showed that TMIs were positively associated with anger and aggression, and externalizing depression symptoms. Model 4 showed that the TMI subdimensions risk-taking, violence, and winning were linked to increased anger and aggression. Self-reliance was associated with higher suicidality, whereas higher pursuit of status was correlated with lower suicidality. Greater risk-taking was associated with lower anxiety.Conclusion: Incorporating TMIs into psychopathology networks highlights their role in reinforcing maladaptive symptom patterns. Conformity to TMIs should be considered when assessing and treating psychopathology in men.