The Role of Masculine Identity in Relational Aggression Among Gay Men

151 Pages·2017·2.15 MB·English

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Dissertations
Summer 8-2017
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Daniel Locke Deason
University of Southern Mississippi
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Deason, Daniel Locke, "Hypermasculine, Antifeminine: The Role of Masculine Identity in Relational
Aggression Among Gay Men" (2017). Dissertations. 910.
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HYPERMASCULINE, ANTIFEMININE: THE ROLE OF MASCULINE IDENTITY
IN RELATIONAL AGGRESSION AMONG GAY MEN
by

Daniel Locke Deason
A Dissertation
Submitted to the Graduate School
and the Department of Psychology
at The University of Southern Mississippi
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Approved:
________________________________________________
Dr. Eric R. Dahlen, Committee Chair
Associate Professor, Psychology
________________________________________________
Dr. Michael B. Madson, Committee Member
Professor, Psychology
________________________________________________
Dr. Bonnie C. Nicholson, Committee Member
Associate Professor, Psychology
________________________________________________
Dr. Richard S. Mohn, Committee Member
Associate Professor, Educational Research and Administration
________________________________________________
Dr. Karen S. Coats
Dean of the Graduate School
August 2017
COPYRIGHT BY
Daniel Locke Deason
2017

Published by the Graduate School
ABSTRACT
HYPERMASCULINE, ANTIFEMININE: THE ROLE OF MASCULINE IDENTITY
IN RELATIONAL AGGRESSION AMONG GAY MEN
by Daniel Locke Deason
August 2017
Relational aggression is a form of aggression that targets a victim’s relationships
or sense of inclusion. Depression, social ostracism, anxiety, and poor psychological
adjustment are some of the negative correlates that have been identified in child and
adolescent victims of relational aggression. For older adolescents and emerging adults,
similar negative correlates have been found. Despite the efforts to identify these
correlates, little research has been conducted on relational aggression among minority
groups. The present study addressed relational aggression among college-aged gay-
identifying men through the lens of Exclusively Masculine Identity Theory (EMIT),
which was developed to account for anti-gay attitudes among heterosexual men and
women. Although the factor structure of Kelley and Robertson’s measure of relational
aggression in gay male relationships could not be confirmed in the present sample, the
use of an alternative measure of relational aggression permitted us to test the study
hypotheses. The present study found that participants with an exclusively masculine
identity reported less perpetration of relational aggression, rather than more as was
expected. Additionally, domains of masculine ideology appeared to be more relevant in
predicting relational aggression/victimization than EMIT. Further, participants endorsed
less anti-effeminacy attitudes than previous research would suggest. Similar to other
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studies, there was a positive relationship between relational aggression perpetration and
victimization.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to acknowledge my advisor, Dr. Eric Dahlen, for his important role
in both this project as well as my graduate education. Additionally, I would like to
acknowledge my committee, Drs. Madson, Nicholson, and Mohn for helping to make this
project possible through their continued feedback and support. I would lastly like to
acknowledge Margo Villarosa for her incredible help with the statistics in this project as
well as her friendship and support throughout graduate school.

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DEDICATION
I would like to dedicate this project to my partner, Robby Byrd, for his continued
support of me throughout my time in graduate school and through many long days and
nights of completing this dissertation. I truly believe I would not have made it this far
without him, and I can never truly express how much I value his love and
encouragement. I would also like to dedicate this work to my parents. My father was
incredibly influential in instilling in me a sense of pride in my work and, of course,
giving me plenty of laughs along this journey. I want to thank my mother for introducing
me to psychology through her own work and for always being an amazing role model for
me both professionally and personally. I love you both very much.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv
DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... v
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .............................................................................................. x
CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1
Relational Aggression and Victimization ....................................................................... 3
Adverse Correlates of Relational Aggression ............................................................. 5
Adverse Correlates of Relational Victimization ....................................................... 15
Cultural Differences in Relational Aggression and Victimization ............................... 17
Gay Men and Aggression.............................................................................................. 23
Relational Aggression in Gay Men ............................................................................... 25
Anti-Effeminacy Attitudes, Masculinity, and Aggression in Gay Men........................ 27
Aggression and Masculinity ..................................................................................... 30
Exclusively Masculine Identity Theory ........................................................................ 35
The Present Study ......................................................................................................... 39
CHAPTER II – METHOD................................................................................................ 43
Participants .................................................................................................................... 43
Instruments .................................................................................................................... 44
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Demographic Questionnaire. .................................................................................... 44
Relational Aggression Scale and Relational Victimization Scale ............................ 44
Self-Report Measure of Aggression and Social Behavior Measure (SRASBM) ..... 45
Gay Identity Questionnaire (GIQ) ............................................................................ 45
Sex Stereotypically Index (SSI) ................................................................................ 46
Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory-46 (CMNI-46) ..................................... 47
Procedure ...................................................................................................................... 48
Statistical Analyses ....................................................................................................... 49
Stage 1: Data Clean-Up and Preliminary Analyses .................................................. 49
Stage 2: Confirmatory Factor Analysis..................................................................... 49
Stage 3: Primary Analyses ........................................................................................ 50
CHAPTER III - RESULTS ............................................................................................... 53
Data Clean Up and Preliminary Analyses .................................................................... 53
Primary Analyses .......................................................................................................... 61
Secondary Analyses ...................................................................................................... 76
CHAPTER IV – DISCUSSION........................................................................................ 83
Ideal and Undesirable Selves ........................................................................................ 83
Exclusively Masculine Identity and Relational Aggression/Victimization .................. 85
Normative Masculine Ideology..................................................................................... 87
Assessing Relational Aggression and Victimization Among Gay Men ....................... 89
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Limitations and Future Directions ................................................................................ 90
APPENDIX A – Study Questionnaires ............................................................................. 97
APPENDIX B – Consent Form (SONA Participants) .................................................... 111
APPENDIX C – Consent Form (Non-SONA Participants) ............................................ 114
APPENDIX D – IRB Approval Letter ............................................................................ 117
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 118

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