Psychology

Adherence to masculine norms and attributional processes predict depressive symptoms in recently unemployed men

Document Type

Article

Abstract

We investigated individual differences in adherence to masculine norms (AMN) as predictors of concurrent and prospective depressive symptoms above and beyond negative attributional style and explanatory flexibility in a community sample of unemployed men. Sixty-two men from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds were recruited from an unemployment center in a large industrial city and were followed for 3 months. Adherence to the specific masculine norms of emotional control and self-reliance accounted for variance in concurrent depressive symptoms after statistically controlling for attributional processes. At the 3-month follow-up, only AMN predicted depressive symptoms after accounting for attributional processes and initial depressive symptoms. Negative attributional style was negatively associated with the likelihood of reemployment at the 3-month follow-up while AMN was positively associated with the likelihood reemployment. Results suggested that AMN may be an important sociocultural factor contributing to depression that is largely independent of attributional processes. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Publication Title

Cognitive Therapy and Research

Publication Date

2010

Volume

34

Issue

6

First Page

533

Last Page

543

ISSN

0147-5916

DOI

10.1007/s10608-009-9290-6

Keywords

adherence to masculine norms, attributional style, Depression, explanatory flexibility, gender, unemployment

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