> At the level of individual men, our findings reveal three key patterns:
> Economic behaviour. Men who adhere more strongly to traditional masculinity norms demonstrate significantly higher labour supply at the intensive margin: a one standard deviation increase in the CMNI-5 is associated with a 4% increase in the desire to work more hours. These men also show greater competitiveness (9% increase), but their occupational choices remain constrained to traditionally masculine sectors (agriculture, construction, manufacturing). While gender role norms also correlate with sector choice, masculinity norms remain a significant predictor even after controlling for traditional gender attitudes.
> Health outcomes. Dominance masculinity norms predict substantially worse health behaviours and outcomes: a one standard deviation increase in CMNI-5 correlates with a 0.10 standard deviation increase in risk-taking and a 0.15 standard deviation increase in depressive symptoms. Men with stronger masculinity norms are significantly less likely to seek mental health help – with ‘help avoidance’ and ‘primacy of violence’ emerging as the strongest predictors of depression. These patterns prove universal across all 70 countries and contrast sharply with gender role norms, which show no consistent relationship with health outcomes.
> Political preferences. Most strikingly, adherence to masculinity norms strongly predicts illiberal political attitudes: a one standard deviation increase in CMNI-5 is associated with a 2-3 percentage point decrease in support for democracy, a 6 percentage point decrease in support for market economy, and an 8 percentage point increase in support for strongman leadership and army rule. These patterns are even stronger in richer economies.
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> At the level of individual men, our findings reveal three key patterns:
> Economic behaviour. Men who adhere more strongly to traditional masculinity norms demonstrate significantly higher labour supply at the intensive margin: a one standard deviation increase in the CMNI-5 is associated with a 4% increase in the desire to work more hours. These men also show greater competitiveness (9% increase), but their occupational choices remain constrained to traditionally masculine sectors (agriculture, construction, manufacturing). While gender role norms also correlate with sector choice, masculinity norms remain a significant predictor even after controlling for traditional gender attitudes.
> Health outcomes. Dominance masculinity norms predict substantially worse health behaviours and outcomes: a one standard deviation increase in CMNI-5 correlates with a 0.10 standard deviation increase in risk-taking and a 0.15 standard deviation increase in depressive symptoms. Men with stronger masculinity norms are significantly less likely to seek mental health help – with ‘help avoidance’ and ‘primacy of violence’ emerging as the strongest predictors of depression. These patterns prove universal across all 70 countries and contrast sharply with gender role norms, which show no consistent relationship with health outcomes.
> Political preferences. Most strikingly, adherence to masculinity norms strongly predicts illiberal political attitudes: a one standard deviation increase in CMNI-5 is associated with a 2-3 percentage point decrease in support for democracy, a 6 percentage point decrease in support for market economy, and an 8 percentage point increase in support for strongman leadership and army rule. These patterns are even stronger in richer economies.
Priors confirmed, the paper