Dr. Mccreary et al., The male role, alcohol use, and alcohol problems: A structural modeling examination in adult women and men, J COUN PSYC, 46(1), 1999, pp. 109-124
Most research on sex differences in alcohol involvement suggests that drink
ing is a component of the male gender role, but the impact of specific male
role factors on alcohol involvement has not yet been studied. The authors
used structural modeling to examine the relationships among 3 male role var
iables (agency, traditional male role attitudes, and masculine gender role
stress), alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related problems in a sample of w
omen and men. To determine whether sex moderates this relationship, models
were computed separately for men and women. For men, traditional attitudes
led to more alcohol consumption, whereas agentic traits protected them from
experiencing alcohol-related problems, and experiencing masculine gender r
ole stress was a risk factor for these problems. Male role variables were u
nrelated to women's alcohol consumption, but women who believed more in the
traditional role of men suffered from more alcohol-related problems. Discu
ssion centers on the contribution of components of the male role on alcohol
outcomes as well as the different implications for men and women.