Where manhood is fragile, men die young

It is probably no surprise that men, on average, have poorer health outcomes than do women, particularly for life-threatening conditions. Women outlive men in virtually every country in the world. Globally, the gap is approximately 4 years. The reasons for this are complex and varied and include biological factors, but lifestyle choices and behaviors play roles as well.

Cultural differences also substantially factor into this health gap. Recent research into the ways people understand manhood suggests that cross-national variation in men’s health may be at least partly due to how people think about manhood. Joseph Vandello and Jennifer Bosson (2013) developed a theory that manhood is widely seen as a precarious social status: something that is hard earned and easily lost. Because of this, men often do things to prove their manhood to others, particularly when they feel their manhood is under threat. Vandello and Bosson recently collaborated with a global team of researchersopens in new window (from countries representing over 80% of the global population) to explore the extent to which people around the world endorse this view of manhood (Bosson et al., 2021). The researchers found that although the notion of precarious manhood may be universal, countries vary substantially in the extent to which their citizens endorse the belief.

How might this belief in precarious manhood relate to men’s health behaviors and outcomes? Could a simple measure of this belief explain the large cultural differences in men’s health around the world? It turns out, it can. In a newly published articleopens in new window in Psychology of Men & Masculinities, Vandello, Mariah Wilkerson, Bosson, Brenton M. Wiernik, and Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka gathered a range of country-level data on risky health behaviors (e.g., smoking, high-volume drinking, contact with venomous animals) and health outcomes associated with risk (e.g., drowning, death from accidents, liver cirrhosis deaths). They found a consistent association of country-level precarious manhood beliefs and men’s risky health behaviors and outcomes. And although the relationship between precarious manhood beliefs and any single behavior was modest, the relationships added up.

In fact, routine health risks can lead to a shorter lifespan. The researchers found that men in countries that score high (1 standard deviation above the mean) on precarious manhood beliefs live 6.5 fewer years than do men in countries that score low (1 standard deviation below the mean) on such beliefs.

What is more, when the researchers looked at nonrisky behaviors (e.g., saving money, literacy rates) and health outcomes that were not related to risky behaviors (leukemia, appendicitis), they did not find relationships with men’s health. And the associations of precarious manhood beliefs and risky behaviors and outcomes generally remained even when controlling for other factors like women’s health, human development, or access to physicians.

This is the first study and the largest study in scale to show that a basic belief about the nature of manhood may have far-reaching implications for men around the world. It suggests that a key to improving men’s health might be in reframing in fundamental ways how people think about manhood. Although this will be no easy task, it is one with a potentially big payoff.

This article is in the Social Psychology and Social Processes topic area. View more articles in the Social Psychology and Social Processes topic area.

Bosson, J. K., Jurek, P., Vandello, J. A., Kosakowska-Berezecka, N., Olech, M., Besta, T., Bender, M., Hoorens, V., Becker, M., Sevincer, A. T., Best, D. L., Safdar, S., Wlodarczyk, A., Zawisza, M., Żadkowska, M., Abuhamdeh, S., Agyemang, C. B., Akbaş, G., Albayrak-Aydemir, N., . . . Žukauskienė, R. (2021). Psychometric properties and correlates of precarious manhood beliefs in 62 nations. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 52(3), 231–258. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022121997997opens in new window

Vandello, J. A., & Bosson, J. K. (2013). Hard won and easily lost: A review and synthesis of research on precarious manhood. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 14(2), 101–113. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029826opens in new window

Vandello, J. A., Wilkerson, M., Bosson, J. K., Wiernik, B. M., & Kosakowska-Berezecka, N. (2023). Precarious manhood and men’s physical health around the world. Psychology of Men & Masculinities, 24(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000407opens in new window

Joseph A. Vandello, PhD, is a professor of psychology at the University of South Florida. He is a social psychologist who studies gender, manhood, and perceptions of marginalized identities. He can be reached via email.

Mariah Wilkerson, MA, is a graduate student in the Department of Psychology at the University of South Florida. She studies stereotypes and masculinity through cross-cultural and intersectional perspectives.

Jennifer K. Bosson, PhD, is a social psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of South Florida. Her research interests include the social psychology of gender roles, masculinity, sexism, and sexual prejudice.

Brenton M. Wiernik, PhD, is a research scientist at Meta. He performed this research in an independent capacity and not as part of his role with Meta.

Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka, PhD, is an associate professor and the head of the Division of Cross-Cultural and Gender Psychology at the University of Gdańsk in Poland. Her main area of research is cross-cultural psychology of gender and gender equality within societies across the world.