The DOI matches its Crossref record; 42 of the 43 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
‘It's caveman stuff, but that is to a certain extent how guys still operate’: men's accounts of masculinity and help seeking
Abstract
It is often assumed that men are reluctant to seek medical care. However, despite growing interest in masculinity and men's health, few studies have focussed on men's experiences of consultation in relation to their constructions of masculinity. Those that have are largely based on men with diseases of the male body (testicular and prostate cancer) or those which have been stereotyped as male (coronary heart disease). This paper presents discussions and experiences of help seeking and its relation to, and implications for, the practice of masculinity amongst a diversity of men in Scotland, as articulated in focus group discussions. The discussions did indeed suggest a widespread endorsement of a 'hegemonic' view that men 'should' be reluctant to seek help, particularly amongst younger men. However, they also included instances which questioned or went against this apparent reluctance to seek help. These were themselves linked with masculinity: help seeking was more quickly embraced when it was perceived as a means to preserve or restore another, more valued, enactment of masculinity (e.g. working as a fire-fighter, or maintaining sexual performance or function). Few other studies have emphasised how men negotiate deviations from the hegemonic view of help-seeking.
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“The perception that victims may have about negative reactions from family; friends and professionals may be reinforced by these behaviours.32 33”
From Help-seeking by male victims of domestic violence and abuse (DVA): a systematic review and qualitative evidence synthesis (2019) · cites this paper as [32]
In the citing paper
“O'Brien, Hunt, and Hart (2005) also reported this tendency of non-disclosure of emotion with participants commenting that men are not 'supposed to' talk about their emotions, and that they should be able to cope with problems on their own.”
From A systematic review of the factors associated with delays in medical and psychological help-seeking among men (2015) · cites this paper as O'Brien, Hunt, and Hart (2005)
In the citing paper
“O'Brien, Hunt, and Hart (2005) investigated this barrier in more detail in their focus groups in which men spoke about their attitudes about avoiding seeking help for something that turns out to be 'nothing'.”
From A systematic review of the factors associated with delays in medical and psychological help-seeking among men (2015) · cites this paper as O'Brien, Hunt, and Hart (2005)
In the citing paper
“Younger men in the same study who tried to talk about mental health problems were quickly silenced through mockery.”
From Do depressed and anxious men do groups? What works and what are the barriers to help seeking? (2014) · cites this paper as O'Brien et al. , 2005
In the citing paper
“One study found that some older men who did admit to experiencing depression described feeling isolated and different (O'Brien et al. , 2005).”
From Do depressed and anxious men do groups? What works and what are the barriers to help seeking? (2014) · cites this paper as O'Brien et al. , 2005
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Metadata
- Authors
- O’Brien, R., Hunt, K., & Hart, G.
- Affiliations
- MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Hunt, Kate
- Venue
- Social Science & Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2005-08
- Volume
- 61
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 503-516
- ISSN
- 0277-9536 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2035124812
- Cited by
- 797
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 74 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 40 · 2017: 42 · 2016: 43 · 2015: 56 · 2014: 51 · 2013: 45 · 2012: 34
- FWCI
- 48.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Social Science & Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- ResearchOnline (Glasgow Caledonian University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender Roles and Identity Studies
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Feminist Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Urology › Male Reproductive Health Studies
- Keywords
- masculinity, help-seeking, men's health, hegemonic masculinity, sexual performance, young men
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Communication, Gender Identity, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Men, Middle Aged, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Scotland, Sex Factors, Stereotyping, Health Behavior, Focus Groups, Narration, Qualitative Research
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