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Adherence to Masculine Norms and Attributional Processes Predict Depressive Symptoms in Recently Unemployed Men

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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.

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  1. Frances L. Hiatt School of Psychology, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA, 01610, USA

    Matthew R. Syzdek & Michael E. Addis

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  1. Matthew R. Syzdek
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  2. Michael E. Addis
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Correspondence to Matthew R. Syzdek.

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Syzdek, M.R., Addis, M.E. Adherence to Masculine Norms and Attributional Processes Predict Depressive Symptoms in Recently Unemployed Men. Cogn Ther Res 34, 533–543 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-009-9290-6

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