Chapter 16: The Psychology of Men and Masculinity

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. It is impossible to understand the female role without also considering the male role because both are firmly rooted in ______.

A. the gender spectrum

B. traditional gender roles

C. the gender binary

D. fluid gender roles

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. ______ are central to masculinity and the male role.

A. Nurturing and care

B. Skill and ability

C. Intelligence and wit

D. Power and dominance

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Characteristics of the Male Role

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. “Bad but bold” is ______.

A. a stereotype about feminists

B. a stereotype about men, found in many nations

C. a stereotype about men, found in European and American cultures, but not in other cultures

D. a stereotype about teenage males in the United States

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Characteristics of the Male Role

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. The businessman, the family man, and the player ______.

A. are male roles from the 20th century that are no longer generalizable today

B. are all stereotypes of men

C. are all associated with worse physical health for men

D. are all consistent with the Sex Role Strain paradigm

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Characteristics of the Male Role

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. According to Pleck’s historical analysis of changes in the male role, psychologists’ emphasis on psychological masculinity, beginning in the l930s, occurred ______.

A. as a means of preparing men psychologically for World War II

B. as a result of political pressure to design tests to measure everything from intelligence to masculinity

C. just as external, institutional definitions of masculinity declined

D. as Freudian theory reached the United States

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Historical Changes in the Male Role

Difficulty Level: Hard

6. Success on the job, earning a lot of money, and gaining power over others are all important parts of ______.

A. the modern male role

B. the male role up to the 1950s but not seen as much today

C. the traditional male role

D. the standards imposed on men by psychologists

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Historical Changes in the Male Role

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. The notion that a masculine identity is extremely important psychologically is part of the ______.

A. male gender role identity paradigm

B. sex role strain paradigm

C. psychoanalytic theory only

D. stated goals of the men’s liberation movement

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Gender Role Identity Paradigm

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Books such as The War Against Boys (2000) can be seen as ______.

A. based on the Sex Role Strain Paradigm

B. a backlash against advances for girls in the schools

C. based on feminist theory

D. highlighting boys’ motivation in school

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Gender Role Identity Paradigm

Difficulty Level: Hard

9. The assumptions that gender roles are often inconsistent and contradictory and that some characteristics prescribed by gender roles are actually maladaptive for men are part of the ______.

A. gender role strain paradigm

B. gender role identity paradigm

C. feminists paradigm

D. men’s paradigm

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Gender Role Strain Paradigm

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Men who endorse a traditional masculinity ideology show higher levels of ______.

A. testosterone

B. gender role strain

C. personality disorders

D. alexithymia

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Gender Role Strain Paradigm

Difficulty Level: Hard

11. In childhood, the ______ become(s) an increasingly important socializing force as children develop.

A. parents’ gender ideals

B. peer group

C. family

D. teachers

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Childhood

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. Gender segregated play and gender typing of toys and activities appear to have ______.

A. little influence on children

B. been flexible through the generations

C. mutually reinforcing effects

D. negative reinforcements

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Childhood

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. Hyperactivity ______.

A. is considerably more common among girls than boys

B. is considerably more common among boys than girls

C. is similar in prevalence among boys and girls

D. in boys is thought to be a result of circumcision

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Childhood

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. One of the most important demands of the male role in adolescence is for ______.

A. rebelliousness

B. academic success

C. interpersonal relationships

D. athleticism

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Adolescence

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. According to Michael Kimmel’s concept of Guyland, ______.

A. games for boys far outnumber games for girls

B. the college years for men have become a period of binge drinking, watching porn with the guys, and hooking up

C. colleges are devoted to helping young men with their careers, but not young women

D. the popularity of man caves is harming men

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Adolescence

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. Providing economic support, showing affection, and sharing activities are all examples of ______.

A. fathers’ direct effects on their children

B. impacts we see from mothers more than fathers

C. mothers’ indirect effects on their children

D. impacts we see from fathers more than mothers

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Adulthood

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. Research shows children whose fathers are involved, nurturing, and playful tend to ______.

A. have behavior and conduct problems

B. have higher IQ but lower attentiveness

C. be more aggressive in their play

D. have better self-regulation

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Adulthood

Difficulty Level: Easy

18. Data show that between 1965 and 2011, the amount of time fathers spent engaging in childcare ______.

A. decreased slightly

B. roughly remained the same

C. doubled

D. increased threefold

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Adulthood

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. Aziz has been experiencing personal turmoil and sudden changes in lifestyle, touched off by a realization of aging, physical decline, and feeling trapped in his roles. Aziz may be experiencing ______.

A. ADAM

B. stagnation versus generativity

C. a midlife crisis

D. andropause

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Adulthood

Difficulty Level: Easy

20. “Andropause” refers to ______.

A. the time in middle age when men pause to reflect on their accomplishments, or lack thereof

B. a time of declining testosterone levels in middle-aged men

C. cessation of menstruation in middle-aged women taking androgen-containing drugs

D. the cessation of ejaculation in middle-aged men

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Adulthood

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. In men, vasocongestion produces ______.

A. more androgens throughout the bloodstream

B. extra testosterone during sexual activities

C. erection of the penis

D. spermarche in men

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Male Sexuality

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. One difference between women’s and men’s sexual functioning is that men have a ______.

A. refractory period

B. resolution period

C. plateau phase

D. excitement phase

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Male Sexuality

Difficulty Level: Medium

23. Regarding the psychology of male sexuality, ______ tends to be a central aspect of masculinity.

A. communication

B. heterosexuality

C. refractory

D. spermarche

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Male Sexuality

Difficulty Level: Easy

24. Today, Black men are ______ times more likely than White men to be incarcerated.

A. two

B. three

C. five

D. six

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: African American Men

Difficulty Level: Hard

25. Which group has the highest unemployment rate?

A. Asian American

B. African American men

C. Hispanic men

D. White men

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: African American Men

Difficulty Level: Medium

26. The ______ paradigm is most useful in understanding the experience of African American males.

A. Male Sex Role Identity

B. Sex Role Strain

C. behaviorist

D. schema

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: African American Men

Difficulty Level: Hard

27. Asian American men are ______.

A. more likely to commit high profile crimes

B. stereotyped as lazy

C. stereotyped as not living up to the ideal traditional White masculinity

D. the least diverse population in the United States

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Asian American Men

Difficulty Level: Easy

28. In regard to gender socialization in Latin American cultures, ______.

A. boys are given more freedom than girls are

B. boys are expected to share in housework

C. boys are encouraged to be unloving toward women

D. boys are expected to get good grades in school

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Latino Men

Difficulty Level: Easy

29. Most Latino men believe the man should be the provider for the family. The strength of this belief decreases ______.

A. when the man gets married

B. as the man enters old age

C. depending on the level of acculturation

D. the fewer children he has

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Latino Men

Difficulty Level: Medium

30. Acculturation for American Indian men has had the effect of ______.

A. loss of the traditional role of spiritual leader

B. decreasing male purpose

C. increase in egalitarian roles between men and women

D. increasing male dominance

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: American Indian Men

Difficulty Level: Medium

True/False

1. Research shows that children are more like their same-gender parent.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Gender Role Identity Paradigm

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Research shows the more conflict that men experience in the male role, the greater their psychological distress and the lower their self-esteem.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Gender Role Strain Paradigm

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Over half of boy infants in the United States are circumcised.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Infancy

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Each year, 1,400 college students die as a result of drinking.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Adolescence

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Fathers do not experience postpartum depression when transitioning into parenthood.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Adulthood

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Fathers can be just as sensitive and responsive to their children as mothers are.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Adulthood

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. Research shows that about 30% of men go through a true midlife crisis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Adulthood

Difficulty Level: Hard

8. The length of the sexual refractory period typically remains stable throughout a man’s life.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Male Sexuality

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Black men in two-parent families monitor their children more and take on more responsibility for child-rearing than White men in two-parent families.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: African American Men

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. There is tremendous diversity among Asian American groups.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Asian American Men

Difficulty Level: Easy

Short Answer

1. The Gender Role Identity paradigm assumes that men’s negative attitudes and behaviors toward women stem from men’s problems with gender role identity that are caused by mothers. What are feminists’ main criticisms regarding this perspective?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Gender Role Identity Paradigm

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. What are some reasons parents choose to have their sons circumcised?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Infancy

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Explain at least two of the psychobiological changes most men go through during middle age.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Adulthood

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. What does ADAM stand for in regard to men in middle age and what are the implications of this? Is this similar to or different than menopause?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge | Application | Analysis

Answer Location: Adulthood

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Compare and contrast women and men’s physical sexual response cycle.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Male Sexuality

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Explain the “cool pose” and its implications on young Black men.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: African American Men

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Explain how behaviors associated with the male role increase men’s health issues and lower their life expectancy.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Health Issues

Difficulty Level: Medium

Essay

1. What are the four major components of masculinity ideology?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Characteristics of the Male Role

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. A recent analysis of masculinity and the male role suggests that gender roles differ not only in content, but also in structure. What does the theory of precarious manhood say about masculinity and what are the implications of this?

Cognitive Domain: Application | Analysis

Answer Location: Characteristics of the Male Role

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Discuss paternal influence. Specifically, compare and contrast direct effects and indirect effects in terms of fathers’ behaviors influencing their children and give an example of each. What are the implications of paternal influence on children?

Cognitive Domain: Application | Analysis

Answer Location: Adulthood

Difficulty Level: Medium