Perception of masculinity amongst young Malaysian men: a qualitative study of university students.
BACKGROUND
Perception of Masculinity plays an important role in men's lifestyles and health behaviors. Although, the importance of masculinity has been widely discussed in men's health literature, very little is known about the meanings of masculinity in the Malaysian setting. This research aimed to explore the meanings of masculinity among Malaysian university men.


METHODS
This qualitative study utilized in-depth interviews with 34 young Malaysian university men, aged 20-30 years from three main ethnic groups in Malaysia (Malay, Chinese and Indian). Thematic analysis approach was used to extract data. NVIVO v8 qualitative software was used for data management.


RESULTS
From the data collected several concepts emerged that reflected the meanings of masculinity from the participants' view points. These meanings were associated with a combination of traditional and non-traditional norms that generally benefit men who behave according to culturally dominant role expectations. These included: "Having a good body shape", "being respected", "having success with women", "being a family man", and "having financial independence". Socio-cultural factors, such as family environment, religion, public media and popular life style patterns helped to shape and reinforce the meanings of masculinities among university men.


CONCLUSIONS
This study revealed that the university context provided a particular culture for construction and reinforcement of the meanings of masculinities, which should be considered by the educators to help in development of healthy masculinities.
Medical Education and Research Development Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia. zahra.fazli@siswa.um.edu.my.
Zahra
Z
Fazli Khalaf
Wah Yun
WY
Low
Behzad
B
Ghorbani
Effat
E
Merghati Khoei
D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D057228:Masculinity; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012945:Social Values / Q000208:ethnology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014495:Universities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult