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Men, masculinity, and the contexts of help seeking (2003)
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| Venue: | American Psychologist |
| Citations: | 137 - 9 self |
BibTeX
@ARTICLE{Addis03men,masculinity,,
author = {Michael E. Addis and James R. Mahalik},
title = {Men, masculinity, and the contexts of help seeking},
journal = {American Psychologist},
year = {2003},
pages = {5--14}
}
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Abstract
Research on men’s help seeking yields strategies for enhancing men’s use of mental and physical health resources. Analysis of the assumptions underlying existing theory and research also provides a context for evaluating the psychology of men and masculinity as an evolving area of social scientific inquiry. The authors identify several theoretical and methodological obstacles that limit understanding of the variable ways that men do or do not seek help from mental and physical health care professionals. A contextual framework is developed by exploring how the socialization and social construction of masculinities transact with social psychological processes common to a variety of potential help-seeking contexts. This approach begins to integrate the psychology of men and masculinity with theory and methodology from other disciplines and suggests innovative ways to facilitate adaptive help seeking. Men are often characterized as unwilling to ask for help when they experience problems in living. Popular stereotypes portray men reluctantly asking for directions when they are lost, having difficulty sharing vulnerable feelings with friends and family, and avoiding seeking needed help from professionals. A large body of empirical research supports the popular belief that men are reluctant to seek help from health professionals. Men are less likely than women to seek help for problems as diverse as depression, substance abuse, physical disabilities, and stressful life events (Husaini,
Keyphrases
health professional physical health resource social psychological process potential help-seeking context stressful life event adaptive help social construction innovative way large body popular belief empirical research vulnerable feeling physical disability substance abuse variable way physical health care professional popular stereotype yield strategy methodological obstacle social scientific inquiry contextual framework
