(PS7-A2) Masculinity Norm Adherence Is Associated with Anxiety Symptoms and Shame in Sexual Minority Community Men

Background: Traditional masculinity norms are expectations delineating acceptable ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving for men, such as being dominant and appearing heterosexual and strong (Borgogna & McDermott, 2022; Kimmel & Messner, 2019). While adherence to masculinity norms has been associated with poorer mental health outcomes among men (Wong et al., 2017; Griffin et al., 2022), most of the research has focused on heterosexual men. Sexual minority men, in particular, are at increased risk of negative mental health outcomes relative to their heterosexual peers (Pitoňák, 2017). The minority stress model suggests that negative health outcomes within this population can be attributed to exposure to chronic identity-related stress (Meyer, 2003). Within certain contexts, sexual minority mean may feel pressured to appear more masculine to avoid discrimination, contributing to greater minority stress and associated psychological consequences (Knutson & Gold, 2019). The present study sought to explore differences in masculinity norm adherence between heterosexual and sexual minority men, as well as to investigate how such adherence differentially relates to anxiety and shame between these two groups.

Method: Community participants assigned male sex at birth (N = 391, 42.7% sexual minority, M_age = 41.87 years, 76.5% White) were recruited using Prolific. Participants completed self-report measures of masculinity norm adherence, shame, and anxiety using the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory (Levant et al., 2020), External and Internal Shame Scale (Ferreira et al., 2020), and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995), respectively.

Results: Differences between heterosexual and sexual minority men in masculinity norm adherence on the ten CMNI subscales were explored. A MANOVA revealed that, compared to heterosexual men, sexual minority men endorsed higher adherence to the playboy norm, F(1, 346) = 6.55, p = .011, and lower adherence to the heterosexual self-presentation norm, F(1, 346) = 73.67, p < .001. Moderation analyses (PROCESS Model 1; Hayes, 2012) revealed a significant interaction between heterosexual self-presentation and sexual minority status for anxiety (b = .35, SE = .14, p </em>= .01), such that the relationship between heterosexual self-presentation and anxiety was stronger for sexual minority men (b = .13, p = .001).There was also a significant interaction between heterosexual self-presentation sexual minority status for shame (b = .52, SE = .25, p </em>= .04), such that the relationship between heterosexual self-presentation and shame was stronger for sexual minority men (b = .51, p = .03).

Conclusion: There is a stronger association between adherence to the masculinity norm heterosexual self-presentation and both anxiety and shame for sexual minority men relative to heterosexual men. In certain contexts, sexual minority men may feel the need to present as heterosexual to protect themselves from discrimination or other harm. However, results from this study suggest that such behavior may ultimately contribute to heightened shame and anxiety. Results highlight the need to assess and consider sexual orientation concealment as a factor that impacts mental health of sexual minority men.