Masculine anxiety is exacerbated by a combative culture at work.
New York, New York, April 28, 2021 – A new study from Catalyst reveals 94% of men surveyed experience masculine anxiety at work, including 22% who experience high levels. Masculine anxiety is often heightened by combative work cultures and linked to men’s decisions not to interrupt sexism in the workplace.
The report, Masculine Anxiety and Interrupting Sexism at Work, defines “masculine anxiety” as the distress men feel when they do not think they are living up to society’s rigid standards of masculinity.
Catalyst researchers Sarah DiMuccio, PhD; Negin Sattari, PhD; Emily Shaffer, PhD; and co-author Jared Cline surveyed more than 1,000 men across job levels working in the United States, finding 76% of men who experience a high degree of masculine anxiety said that they would do nothing if a colleague makes a sexist comment at work, compared to just 14% of men who experience less masculine anxiety.