Toxic masculinity is alive and well in the U.S., where husbands’ stress increases if their wife earns more than 40 percent of the household income.
New research from the University of Bath suggests men become increasingly uncomfortable as their spouse’s wages rise.
I think their heads explode once they become entirely economically dependent on their female partner.
A 15-year study of more than 6,000 American heterosexual couples showed that husbands are at their most anxious when they are the sole breadwinner. Stress levels, meanwhile, decline as their wife’s earnings approach 40 percent of household income.
That’s entirely reasonable: Shouldering the burden of responsibility for finances would make anyone nervous.
But the fact that as a woman’s earnings surpass a certain level, men become gradually more tense is just plain sexist.
“These findings suggest that social norms about male breadwinning—and traditional conventions about men earning more than their wives—can be dangerous for men’s health,” according to Joanna Syrda, an economist at the University’s School of Management.
“This is a large study but of a specific group—other conventions apply in other groups and societies and the results may change as time moves on,” she continued. “However, the results are strong enough to point to the persistence of gender identity norms, and to their part in male mental health issues.”
Enduring distress can lead to adverse health problems like physical illness and mental, emotional, and social issues.
In a strange twist, researchers found that men did not suffer psychological distress if their wife was the higher earner before marriage and the income gap was already clear.
“The consequences of traditional gender role reversals in marriages associated with wives’ higher earnings span multiple dimensions, including physical and mental health, life satisfaction, marital fidelity, divorce, and marital bargaining power,” Syrda explained.
A recent Pew Research Center study noted that while 13 percent of married women earned more than their husbands in 1980, by 2017, the number was close to 30 percent—and growing.
But how will this trend affect social norms, wellbeing, and our understanding of masculinity?
Not well, it seems.
The study showed a disparity in the way men and women assess their own psychological distress and that of their partner: Husbands reported better mental health than their wives did on their behalf.
“This too may be down to gender norms,” Syrda said. “If masculine social roles preclude the admission of vulnerability, and men are inclined to hide symptoms of stress and depression, it follows that wives’ responses about their spouses will be less accurate.”
In fact, ladies reported their menfolk’s lowest distress level is when they contribute 50 percent of the household income. Husbands, however, admit it’s closer to 40 percent.
“The fact that a wife observes to a lesser degree her husband’s elevated psychological distress when he is financially dependent on her may be simply because he does not communicate it,” Syrda explained. “This may be yet another manifestation of gender norms.”
Read more about her findings in a paper published by the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
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