More similar than different? Testing the construct validity of men’s and women’s traditional masculinity ideology using the Male Role Norms Inventory-Very Brief.

This study was designed to inquire into the effects of aging versus age cohort by examining how men and women representing four age cohorts across the life span endorse masculinity ideology. Ascertaining whether different groups (such as age cohorts) understand a scale in the same way by assessing measurement invariance is a fundamental but oft-ignored prerequisite to comparing their scores on the scale. The Male Role Norms Inventory-Short Form (MRNI-SF) is a multidimensional measure used to assess beliefs in specific norms of masculinity, as well as general beliefs in traditional masculinity ideology (TMI). A five-item unidimensional MRNI -Very Brief (MRNI-VB) has also been developed measuring TMI only. This study administered the MRNI-SF (which includes the five items for the MRNI-VB) to 1,352 men and women in four age cohorts: young, established, middle-aged, and older. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses found support for partial strong invariance for the MRNI-SF across age cohorts. Support for partial strict invariance was found for the MRNI-VB across age cohorts. For both scales, the effect sizes of non-invariant parameters were small in magnitude, thus non-invariance may have little practical significance. These results suggest that the MRNI-SF and the MRNI-VB measure similar masculinity ideology constructs across men and women in four age cohorts. Mean scores on each instrument were therefore compared across age cohorts with confidence, finding that the age cohorts commonly did not endorse “traditional” masculinity ideology, but differed in the level of disagreement with the tenets of TMI in six out of nine comparisons. In five of those six, older adults hewed more strongly to TMI than younger adults, suggesting that age cohort was more determinative of masculinity beliefs than age.

Download Full-text

More on The Structure of Male Role Norms

Psychology of Women Quarterly ◽

10.1111/j.1471-6402.1998.tb00147.x ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 135-155 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Ann R. Fischer ◽

David M. Tokar ◽

Glenn E. Good ◽

Andrea F. Snell

Keyword(s):

Factor Model ◽

Future Research ◽

Validation Sample ◽

Male Role ◽

Confirmatory Factor Analyses ◽

Total N ◽

Masculinity Ideology ◽

Male Role Norms ◽

Role Norms ◽

Best Fit

This study assessed the structure of a widely used measure of masculinity ideology, the Male Role Norms Scale (Thompson & Pleck, 1986), using data from four samples of male college students (total N= 656) at two large, public universities (one Midwestern, one Eastern-Central). Exploratory factor analysis suggested a four-factor model best fit the data in the exploratory sample (sample 1; N = 210). The four factors were Status/Rationality, Antifemininity, Tough Image, and Violent Toughness. A series of confirmatory factor analyses on a validation sample (samples 2, 3, and 4; N = 446), tested four models based on theory (i.e., Brannon, 1976) and previous research (i.e., Thompson & Pleck, 1986). Results from Study 1, our exploratory analysis, indicated that the four-factor model derived from the exploratory sample in Study 1 provided the best fit for the validation sample data of all models tested and also provided a good fit in absolute terms, according to several model–data fit indices. Implications for the assessment of masculinity ideology and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Download Full-text