Subjective masculine norms among university students in Singapore: A mixed-methods study

In this mixed-methods study, the authors explored 348 Singaporean university students' subjective masculine norms, defined as individuals' perceptions of the most important social norms about men in a given group or society. Participants provided written responses to 6 open-ended prompts on their subjective masculine norms as well as their levels of endorsement of these norms. A directed content analysis of participants' qualitative responses identified providing for family, being a gentleman, emotional toughness, avoidance of inferiority to women, and avoidance of femininity as the 5 most prevalent and salient subjective masculine norms. Moderation analyses indicated that endorsement of subjective masculine norms was positively related to gender identity satisfaction and to life satisfaction for men, but not for women. A moderated mediation analysis indicated that gender identity satisfaction mediated the relationship between endorsement of subjective masculine norms and life satisfaction for men, but not for women. These findings are discussed within the context of how culture intersects with masculinities as well as the broader contributions of subjective masculine norms to the psychology of men and masculinities.