Perception of masculinity amongst young Malaysian men: a qualitative study of university students

BMC Public Health

Effat Merghati Khoei¹  Behzad Ghorbani²  Wah Yun Low³  Zahra Fazli Khalaf³ 

[1] Iranian National Center of Addiction Studies (INCAS): Risk Behavior Institution, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran;Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran;Medical Education and Research Development Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia

关键词: University men;    Qualitative study;    Social construction;    Men’s health;    Masculinity;   

Others  :  1161565
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-13-1062

 received in 2013-04-26, accepted in 2013-11-08,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

Perception of Masculinity plays an important role in men’s lifestyles and health behaviors. Although, the importance of masculinity has been widely discussed in men’s health literature, very little is known about the meanings of masculinity in the Malaysian setting. This research aimed to explore the meanings of masculinity among Malaysian university men.

Methods

This qualitative study utilized in-depth interviews with 34 young Malaysian university men, aged 20–30 years from three main ethnic groups in Malaysia (Malay, Chinese and Indian). Thematic analysis approach was used to extract data. NVIVO v8 qualitative software was used for data management.

Results

From the data collected several concepts emerged that reflected the meanings of masculinity from the participants’ view points. These meanings were associated with a combination of traditional and non-traditional norms that generally benefit men who behave according to culturally dominant role expectations. These included: “Having a good body shape”, “being respected”, “having success with women”, “being a family man”, and “having financial independence”. Socio-cultural factors, such as family environment, religion, public media and popular life style patterns helped to shape and reinforce the meanings of masculinities among university men.

Conclusions

This study revealed that the university context provided a particular culture for construction and reinforcement of the meanings of masculinities, which should be considered by the educators to help in development of healthy masculinities.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Fazli Khalaf et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 参考文献 】

• [1]Stibbe A: Health and the social construction of masculinity in men’s health magazine. Men Masculinities 2004, 7(1):31-51.
• [2]Levant RF, Pollack WS: A New Psychology of Men. New York: Basic Books; 2003.
• [3]Van Hoven B, Hopkins P: Masculinities. In International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. Edited by Rob K, Nigel T. Oxford: Elsevier; 2009:492-496.
• [4]Hearn JBMHK: Rethinking transnational men: beyond, between and within nations. London: Taylor & Francis; 2013.
• [5]Harland K: Acting Tough: Young Men, Masculinity and the Development of Practice in Northern Ireland. Barcelona: Nowhere Man Press; 2009.
• [6]Courtenay WH: Constructions of masculinity and their influence on men's well-being: a theory of gender and health. Soc Sci Med 2000, 50(10):1385-1401.
• [7]Leszczynski JP, Strough J: The contextual specificity of masculinity and femininity in early adolescence. Soc Dev 2008, 17(3):719-736.
• [8]Khosravi S: Displaced masculinity: gender and ethnicity among Iranian men in Sweden. Iran Stud 2009, 42(4):591-609.
• [9]Batnitzky A, McDowell L, Dyer S: Flexible and strategic masculinities: the working lives and gendered identities of male migrants in London. J Ethnic Migr Stud 2009, 35(8):1275-1293.
• [10]Harrison A, O'Sullivan LF, Hoffman S, Dolezal C, Morrell R: Gender role and relationship norms among young adults in South Africa: measuring the context of masculinity and HIV risk. J Urban Health 2006, 83(4):709-722.
• [11]Evans J, Frank B, Oliffe JL, Gregory D: Health, Illness, Men and Masculinities (HIMM): a theoretical framework for understanding men and their health. J Men's Health 2011, 8(1):7-15.
• [12]Smiler AP: “I wanted to get to know her better”: Adolescent boys’ dating motives, masculinity ideology, and sexual behavior. J Adolesc 2008, 31(1):17-32.
• [13]Psaki SR, Ayivi-Guedehoussou N, Halperin DT: Leveraging changing gender norms to address concurrency: focus group findings from South African university students. Sex Health 2013, 10(4):369-376.
• [14]Möller-Leimkühler AM: Barriers to help-seeking by men: a review of sociocultural and clinical literature with particular reference to depression. J Affect Disord 2002, 71(1):1-9.
• [15]Vahdaninia M, Montazeri A, Goshtasebi A: Help-seeking behaviors for female sexual dysfunction: a cross sectional study from Iran. Womens Health 2009, 9(3):1-7.
• [16]O’Brien R, Hunt K, Hart G: ‘It's caveman stuff, but that is to a certain extent how guys still operate’: men's accounts of masculinity and help seeking. Soc Sci Med 2005, 61(3):503-516.
• [17]Ng CJ, Tan HM, Low WY: Masculinity and help-seeking behaviour in Asian men: findings from the Asian men's attitudes to life events and sexuality (Male) study. J Sex Med 2009, 6(Suppl2):78.
• [18]Galdas PM, Cheater F, Marshall P: Men and health help-seeking behaviour: literature review. J Adv Nurs 2005, 49(6):616-623.
• [19]Ng CJ, Tan HM, Low WY: What do Asian men consider as important masculinity attributes? Findings from the Asian Men's Attitudes to Life Events and Sexuality (MALES) Study. J Men's Health 2008, 5(4):350-355.
• [20]Malcher G: Engaging men in health care. Aust Fam Physician 2009, 38(3):92-95.
• [21]Austad SN: Why women live longer than men: Sex differences in longevity. Gend Med 2006, 3(2):79-92.
• [22]Schmid Mast M, Sieverding M, Esslen M, Graber K, Jäncke L: Masculinity causes speeding in young men. Accid Anal Prev 2008, 40(2):840-842.
• [23]Pickard LJ: A state conceptualization: are individuals’ masculine and feminine personality traits situationally influenced? Pers Individ Differ 2009, 47(3):157-162.
• [24]Ill FH: College Men’s meanings of masculinities and contextual influences: toward a conceptual model. J Coll Stud Dev 2010, 51(3):297-318.
• [25]Gagnon JH, Simon W: Sexual conduct: the social sources of human sexuality. Aldine de Gruyter: Hawthorne, NY; 2005.
• [26]Buchanan-Aruwafu HR, Maebiru R, Aruwafu F: Stiki Lole: Language and the mediation of desire in Auki, Malaita, Solomon Islands. Cult Health Sex 2003, 5(3):219-235.
• [27]Grunseit A, Richters J, Crawford J, Song A, Kippax S: Stability and change in sexual practices among first-year Australian University students (1990–1999). Arch Sex Behav 2005, 34(5):557-568.
• [28]Lottes I, Alkula T: An investigation of sexuality-related attitudinal patterns and characteristics related to those patterns for 32 European countries. Sexual Res Soc Pol 2011, 8(2):77-92.
• [29]Mac An Ghaill M, Haywood C: Understanding boys’: Thinking through boys, masculinity and suicide. Soc Sci Med 2012, 74(4):482-489.
• [30]Hirschman C, Teerawichitchainan B: Cultural and socioeconomic influences on divorce during modernization: Southeast Asia, 1940s to 1960s. Popul Dev Rev 2003, 29(2):215-253.
• [31]Low W-Y: Malaysian youth sexuality: issues and challenges. J Univ Malaya Med Cent 2009, 12(1):3-14.
• [32]Swami V, Tovée MJ: Male physical attractiveness in Britain and Malaysia: a cross-cultural study. Body Image 2005, 2(4):383-393.
• [33]Swami V, Tovée MJ: Female physical attractiveness in Britain and Malaysia: A cross-cultural study. Body Image 2005, 2(2):115-128.
• [34]WHO: The sexual and reproductive health of younger adolescents: Research issues in developing countries. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO; 2011.
• [35]Ismail ZA: Malaysian masculinity identity representation through men's editorial. In Education and Management Technology (ICEMT), 2010 International Conference on 2–4 Nov: 2010. Cairo: IEEE; 2010:496-499.
• [36]Population Distribution and Basic Demographic Characteristics. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=05657609 webcite
• [37]Saw S-H: Institute of Southeast Asian S: The population of Malaysia. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies; 2007.
• [38]Gagnon JH: Sexual conduct: as today's memory serves. Sexualities 1999, 2(1):115-126.
• [39]Mahoney AR, Knudson-Martin C: Will Old Gender Scripts Limit New Millennium Families' Ability to Thrive? In Families & The New Millennium. Volume 5(1). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Library; 2000.
• [40]Bhattacherjee A: Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices. Tampa, Florida: University of South Florida; 2012.
• [41]Creswell JW, Plano Clark VL: Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications; 2011.
• [42]Acaba JP: Tropa: Masculinity and power in sexual health seeking behaviors among male young gangs. Asia-Pacific E-J Health Soc Sci 2012, 1:1-3.
• [43]Harland K, Beattie K, McCready S: Young men and the squeeze of masculinity: the Inaugural Paper for the Centre for Young Men’s Studies. Belfast: Centre for Young Men’s Studies; 2005.
• [44]Lawrence E, Barry RA, Brock RL, Bunde M, Langer A, Ro E, Fazio E, Mulryan L, Hunt S, Madsen L, et al.: The relationship quality interview: evidence of reliability, convergent and divergent validity, and incremental utility. Psychol Assess 2011, 23(1):44-63.
• [45]Seidman I: Interviewing as Qualitative Research: a Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences. New York and London: Teachers College, Columbia University; 2006.
• [46]Temple B, Young A: Qualitative research and translation dilemmas. Qual Res 2004, 4(2):161-178.
• [47]Maxwell J: Understanding and validity in qualitative research. Harvard Educ Rev 1992, 62(3):279-301.
• [48]Ritchie J: Qualitative research practice: a guide for social science students and researchers. London: [u.a.]: Sage Publ; 2006.
• [49]Marshall C, Rossman GB: Designing qualitative research. Los Angeles: Sage; 2011.
• [50]Sax LJ, Astin AW, Astin HS: The Gender Gap in College: Maximizing the Developmental Potential of Women and Men. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2008.