title: Masculinity and barriers to seeking counseling: The buffering role of self-compassion.
abstract: Less than 1/3 of college men seek psychological help per year when experiencing mental health concerns. Many believe this is because socialized masculine norms are incongruent with help-seeking decisions. In line with this, adherence to masculine norms, like emotional control and self-reliance, is consistently linked to factors associated with lower use of counseling. Identifying constructs that buffer, or reduce, the relationship between masculine norm adherence and common barriers to seeking help, like help-seeking self-stigma and resistance to self-disclosing, could shed light on mechanisms through which effective interventions could be developed. As such, this study examined whether self-compassion, or the ability to show oneself kindness and understanding in the face of challenges, moderated the relationship between masculine norm adherence and both help-seeking self-stigma and the risks associated with self-disclosing to a counselor in a sample of 284 undergraduate men (Mage = 19.68, range = 18-30). Results indicate that self-compassion is associated with lower levels of help-seeking self-stigma and disclosure risks. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, self-compassion buffered the relationship between overall masculine norm adherence and each of these barriers. Furthermore, when specific masculine norms were examined, self-compassion buffered the relationship between emotional control and disclosure risks. These results support the need for future research focused on the development and assessment of self-compassion based interventions aimed at decreasing the barriers undergraduate men experience toward seeking psychological help. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Iowa State University.
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Heath
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Iowa State University.
authors.forename: Rachel E
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1069-9591
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Brenner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Iowa State University.
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Vogel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Illinois State University.
authors.forename: Daniel G
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8203-8253
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Lannin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Iowa State University.
authors.forename: Haley A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Strass
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003376:Counseling; D004645:Empathy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D057228:Masculinity; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012925:Social Conformity; D057545:Social Stigma; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult