Masculinity concepts in relation to attitudes towards physical violence against women: A counseling perspective

In patriarchal societies, heterosexual men are considered superior to women and nonbinary individuals who are suppressed or marginalized. This heteronormativity structure pressures men to struggle toward establishing and maintaining dominance and puts manhood into a precarious position, needing continuous protection against perceived threats. If men perceive that their masculinity is threatened, they may resort to violence to reestablish their status. This thesis focused on how masculinity concepts related to attitudes towards violence against women as perceived by males as well as females. The concepts of masculinity included masculinity types, masculinity ideology and perceived threat to manhood. University students from three major metropolises, İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir, volunteered to participate through responding to the instruments in the Google Form. Among 405 students, 283 identified themselves as female and 122 as male. Descriptive and relational analyses revealed that both males and females with hegemonic masculinity type had more affirmative attitudes towards physical violence than to those with nonhegemonic masculinity type. Sex differences existed in masculinity ideology, perceived threat to masculinity, and attitudes towards physical violence. Except for Femininity Avoidance, males adopted a more traditional position in Head of Family, Emotional Restriction, and Dominance dimensions of masculinity ideology than females. Males perceived more threat in dimensions of Breadwinner and Protector Roles and had more favorable attitudes towards physical violence. Biological sex, masculinity ideology and perceived threat to manhood predicted violence. From a counseling perspective, preventing gender discrimination and flexing strict gender roles seem to be the first steps to achieve nonviolence.