Civilized Muscles: Building a Powerful Body as a Vehicle for Social Status and Identity Formation

This paper explored the relationship between having a muscular body and identity formation in young men. Theoretically, it was built on evolutionary psychology; empirically, it drew on the author’s research into young men’s use of anabolic-androgenic steroids in gym settings. The questions I addressed were the following: First, why does the building of a muscular body through weight and strength training appeal to young men who have not yet found their place in the societal hierarchy? Second, what identity-related consequences does it have for them, when the size and posture of their body changes? First, the paper outlined some important aspects of the civilizing process and evolutionary psychology in order to offer an explanation on how and why brute force has been marginalized in today’s society, while the strong body continues to appeal to us. Then followed an explanation of the concept of identity used in this context. Hereafter, it was examined how building a more muscular body influences the young men and their relationship with their surroundings. Next, an underlying alternative understanding of health that may influence young men’s decision to use anabolic steroids was discussed. The article concluded with some remarks on the body’s impact on identity in a time where a strong build no longer has any practical importance in our lives.

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‘Just give up the ball’: In search of a third space in relationships between male youth workers and young men involved in violence

Criminology & Criminal Justice ◽

10.1177/1748895820933929 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 174889582093392

Author(s):

Pete Harris

Keyword(s):

Identity Formation ◽

Third Space ◽

Young Men ◽

Youth Workers ◽

Male Youth ◽

Youth Worker ◽

Nuanced Understanding ◽

Youth Crime Prevention ◽

The Relationship ◽

Male Workers

This article critically examines the employment of male youth workers in the field of youth crime prevention. It focuses on how their relationships with young men involved in violence might (or might not) support young men and promote desistance. It does this via the presentation of a single psychosocial case study that examines the relationship between a Black male youth worker and a young Black man who becomes involved in violence and then falls victim to violence to other young men in his neighbourhood. It illuminates how some male workers’ resources of masculine and street capital may be advantageous in terms of reaching some young men, but may also create barriers to reaching others. The study focuses on how both men in the case struggle to ‘give up the ball’ – a metaphor the article adopts for the act of conceding masculine capital in the street field. I suggest that for the relationship to provide the support this young man needed, it required the creation of a third space between him and his youth worker, that is, a vantage point from where they could both examine their masculinity and how this was related to their respective psychic vulnerabilities. I argue that the two men’s investments in different discourses of masculinity were more significant (in terms of the desistance-promoting potential of their relationship) than the similarity in their racial or class backgrounds. The case highlights the need for a more nuanced understanding of youth work relationships and for provision of adequate support and supervision for all male workers that incorporates thorough consideration of their personal and professional identity formation, especially the most heavily gendered aspects.

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The relationship between the ideas of boys and girls about the personal qualities of the desired marriage partner and intelligence

World of Science Pedagogy and psychology ◽

10.15862/52psmn221 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Natalia Kargina ◽

Andrey Polyansky ◽

Lyubov Bykovskaya

Keyword(s):

Personality Trait ◽

Practical Importance ◽

Young Men ◽

Men And Women ◽

Stage Of Development ◽

Marriage Partner ◽

Personal Qualities ◽

The Relationship ◽

Gender Aspect ◽

Current Stage

The article is devoted to the study of the peculiarities of the ideas of modern youth about the personal qualities of the desired marriage partner and the connection of these ideas with intelligence. The article emphasizes the practical importance of this study for the current stage of development of society. The results of the study revealed the connection between the ideas of young men and women about the personal qualities of the desired marriage partner and intelligence, as well as the gender aspect of the peculiarities of the ideas about the desired marriage partner among modern youth. The description of the ideas of modern youth about the personal qualities of the desired marriage partner in boys and girls is presented. It is shown that girls prefer to see the following personal qualities in their desired future marriage partner: attractiveness, strong personality, muscularity. Whereas young men want to see femininity and dependence in their desired future marriage partner. The connection between the ideas of boys and girls about the personal qualities of the desired marriage partner and intellect is revealed. In young men, with an increase in IQ, the idea of muscularity as a personality trait of the desired marriage partner will decrease. In girls, with an increase in IQ, the overall attractiveness of the partner will increase, and the idea of the strength of the personality of the future partner will decrease. It is emphasized that the research results will help regulate behavior, form a system of relationships, optimize the processes of upbringing and teaching new generations of modern youth. They will be useful in the correctional, consulting, psychodiagnostic work of various specialists.

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Tinkering with cognitive gadgets: Cultural evolutionary psychology meets active inference

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x19001018 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

Author(s):

Paul Benjamin Badcock ◽

Axel Constant ◽

Maxwell James Désormeau Ramstead

Keyword(s):

Evolutionary Psychology ◽

Research Program ◽

Active Inference ◽

Innovative Research ◽

Cognitive Faculties ◽

Cultural Evolutionary ◽

The Relationship

Abstract Cognitive Gadgets offers a new, convincing perspective on the origins of our distinctive cognitive faculties, coupled with a clear, innovative research program. Although we broadly endorse Heyes’ ideas, we raise some concerns about her characterisation of evolutionary psychology and the relationship between biology and culture, before discussing the potential fruits of examining cognitive gadgets through the lens of active inference.

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Finding yourself in awe: The relationship between awe and identity formation

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e514472015-571 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Galen D. McNeil ◽

Craig L. Anderson ◽

Dacher Keltner

Keyword(s):

Identity Formation ◽

The Relationship

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Introduction

10.1093/oso/9780198820727.003.0001 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jennifer Otto

Keyword(s):

Roman Empire ◽

Early Christianity ◽

Young Men ◽

Philo Of Alexandria ◽

Early Christian ◽

Greco Roman ◽

Text Production ◽

Church Father ◽

Intellectual Formation ◽

The Relationship

Between the second and the sixteenth centuries CE, references to the Jewish exegete Philo of Alexandria occur exclusively in texts written by Christians. David T. Runia has described this phenomenon as the adoption of Philo by Christians as an “honorary Church Father.” Drawing on the work of Jonathan Z. Smith and recent investigations of the “Parting of the Ways” of early Christianity and Judaism, this study argues that early Christian invocations of Philo reveal ongoing efforts to define the relationship between Jewishness and Christianness, their areas of overlap and points of divergence. The introduction situates invocations of Philo within the wider context of early Christian writing about Jews and Jewishness. It considers how Philo and his early Christian readers participated in the larger world of Greco-Roman philosophical schools, text production, and the ethical and intellectual formation (paideia) of elite young men in the Roman Empire.

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Androgenic-anabolic steroids and body dysmorphia in young men

Journal of Psychosomatic Research ◽

10.1016/s0022-3999(96)00302-9 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 42 (3) ◽

pp. 225-234 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Anna-M. Wroblewska

Keyword(s):

Anabolic Steroids ◽

Young Men ◽

Body Dysmorphia ◽

Androgenic Anabolic Steroids

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Want Engaged Employees? Encourage Human Resource and Enhance Organizational Connectedness

Australian Journal of Business and Management Research ◽

10.52283/nswrca.ajbmr.hxnp5021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 1-12

Author(s):

Abhishek Sharma

Keyword(s):

Employee Engagement ◽

Human Resource ◽

Work Engagement ◽

Organizational Identification ◽

Practical Importance ◽

Study Data ◽

Organizational Productivity ◽

Hr Practices ◽

The Relationship ◽

Viable Method

Work engagement is not only a "nice-to-have" but has been shown to be linked to various positive outcomes of work, including its proven financial and behavioural gains. The concern regarding employee engagement is increasing, and organizations of the 21st century are looking for every possible way to develop the culture of employee engagement deliberately. In this context, this research introduces employee engagement as a viable method to encourage organizational productivity and examines how perceptions of specific human resource (HR) practices and organizational identification relate to experiences of employee's work engagement. The study data was collected using standard psychometric tools from 75 mid-level managers working in various organizations. Statistical analysis was performed to answer research questions. The results conveyed the significance of applying encouraging human resource practices and demonstrated the positive effect of organization-al identification (OID) on work engagement. HR practices and OID were found instrumental in positively predicting the significant amount of work engagement. By discovering the relationship between HR practices (conditions that organizations can influence easily), organizational identification, and employee engagement, this study relates to the realistic implementation of measures to improve employee engagement and especially emphasises them. As most companies are searching for ways to promote employee engagement, the latest re-search results are of practical importance to HR executives.

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Aging alters calcium regulation of serum concentration of parathyroid hormone in healthy men

AJP Endocrinology and Metabolism ◽

10.1152/ajpendo.1997.272.1.e139 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 272 (1) ◽

pp. E139-E146 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

A. A. Portale ◽

E. T. Lonergan ◽

D. M. Tanney ◽

B. P. Halloran

Keyword(s):

Parathyroid Hormone ◽

Young Men ◽

The Elderly ◽

Ionized Calcium ◽

Elderly Men ◽

Elderly Age ◽

Healthy Men ◽

Age Related ◽

Serum Pth ◽

The Relationship

We examined the effect of aging on the relationship between the concentrations of blood ionized calcium and of serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) in 22 healthy men [9 elderly (age 74 +/- 2 yr) and 13 young (age 39 +/- 1 yr)] in whom the glomerular filtration rate was > 70 ml/min. Throughout a 24-h period, serum concentrations of PTH in the elderly men were twice those in the young men, whereas blood ionized calcium did not differ between the two groups. With intravenous infusion of calcium gluconate, the minimum PTH concentration was two- to threefold higher in the elderly men. With infusion of NaEDTA. the maximum PTH concentration was 20% higher in the elderly men. The calcium set point for PTH release was higher in the elderly than in the young men (4.71 +/- 0.04 vs. 4.54 +/- 0.03 mg/dl, respectively, P < 0.005). In these healthy men, the age-related increase in serum PTH could not be attributed to a sustained decrease in concentration of either blood ionized calcium or 1,25-hydroxyvitamin D. These findings suggest that, with aging, the relationship between calcium and PTH is altered such that at any given level of calcium, the concentration of PTH is higher.

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Doping and effects of anabolic androgenic steroids on the heart: histological, ultrastructural, and echocardiographic assessment in strength athletes

Human & Experimental Toxicology ◽

10.1177/0960327109104821 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 28 (5) ◽

pp. 273-283 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

NA Hassan ◽

MF Salem ◽

Mael Sayed

Keyword(s):

Light Microscopy ◽

Strain Rate ◽

Anabolic Steroids ◽

Negative Control ◽

Anabolic Androgenic Steroids ◽

Control Group ◽

Albino Rats ◽

Two Dimensional ◽

Androgenic Steroids ◽

Experimental Group

Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) are used by some athletes to enhance performance despite the health risk they may pose in some persons. This work was carried out to evaluate the possible structural and functional alterations in the heart using two-dimensional, M-mode, tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and strain rate imaging (SRI) in athletes using supraphysiological doses of AAS. Additionally, the histological and ultrastructural changes in cardiac muscles of adult albino rats after injection of sustanon, as an example of AAS, were studied. Fifteen male bodybuilders using anabolic steroids constituted group 1, five male bodybuilders who are not using anabolic steroids constituted group 2, and five nonathletic males constituted negative control group (group 3). They were investigated by two-dimensional, M-mode, TDI and SRI. This study was performed on 30 adult albino rats. They were divided into two groups. Group I (Control group) (10) was subdivided into negative control, subgroup 1a (5), and subgroup 1b (5), which received 0.8 ml olive oil intramuscular once a week for 8 weeks. Group II (Experimental group) (20) received sustanon 10 mg/kg intramuscularly once a week for 8 weeks. The heart specimens were prepared for light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Echocardiographic results showed that bodybuilders who use steroids have smaller left ventricular dimension with thicker walls, impaired diastolic function, as well as higher peak systolic strain rate in steroid-using bodybuilders as compared to the other two groups. Light microscopy examination of cardiac muscle fibers showed focal areas of degeneration with loss of striations and vacuolation in the experimental group. Ultrastructural examination showed disturbance of the banding pattern of the cardiac muscle fiber with disintegration, loss of striations, dehiscent intercalated disc, and interrupted Z-bands. Administration of supraphysiological doses of AAS caused severe deleterious effects in the myocardium both in athletes and in experimental animals. The SRI shows promise in the early detection of systolic dysfunction in those athletes who use steroids.

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