Masculine gender role stress, low relationship power, and aggression toward intimate partners

Abstract

Previous research suggests that men are most likely to respond to low power in intimate relationships with greater aggression toward their partners. The primary explanation offered for men’s aggressive responses to low relationship power is that low power can threaten men’s masculine identity, and aggression helps to demonstrate power and reclaim a traditional masculine identity. Based on this perspective, 4 studies (total N = 842) tested whether the association between men’s relationship power and aggression was moderated by masculine gender role stress (MGRS). The participants completed scales assessing MGRS, relationship power, and physical and verbal aggression toward intimate partners across the past year (Studies 1–3) or following sexual rejection (Study 4). Across the 4 studies, men who perceived that they had lower relationship power reported greater physical aggression, but only when they were relatively high in MGRS. This interaction pattern emerged for verbal aggression in 2 of the 4 studies. An internal meta-analysis revealed that the results for physical aggression were reliable and robust across studies and control analyses, whereas the significant meta-analytic interaction effect for verbal aggression was reduced when controlling for relationship satisfaction or hostile sexism. These results support the proposition that low relationship power can threaten men’s masculine identity by revealing that men who find situations that can threaten traditional masculine identity stressful are more likely to respond to low relationship power with physical aggression. The results also reveal that men who do not find masculine identity threats stressful are unlikely to respond to low relationship power with aggression. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)