Could your playboy lifestyle be killing you?
A new study finds that promiscuous men are more prone to mental health problems
Men who consider themselves stronger and more important than women, and those who are decidedly promiscuous when it comes to dating, are more prone to developing mental health issues and illness as they age, a new study has found.
Those with less chauvinistic attitudes were discovered to be safer from the effects and possible onset of psychological issues including substance abuse and depression. But why could this be?
Joel Wong, Associate Professor of Counselling Psychology at Indiana’s Bloomington University and the lead author on the study, believes that misogynistic men are less likely to seek help when problems arise, leading them to spiral unchecked and out of control.
“Some of these sexist masculine norms, like being a playboy and power over women, aren’t just a social injustice but they are also potentially bad for your mental health,” says Wong, whose findings were published on Monday in the Journal of Counseling Psychology by the American Psychological Association.
“Sexual promiscuity or playboy behaviour, self-reliance and overpowering women were some of the norms which were closely related to the mental health issues,” he continued. “Men who have trouble asking for directions when they’re lost, that’s a classic example of self-reliance.”
The research, that spanned more than 11 years and involved over 19,000 men, focused on 11 traits of ‘traditional’ masculinity to draw the conclusion that those who embody such societal expectations as “pursuit of status, a desire to win and risk-taking” are more likely to develop mental health problems.
This month, Movember serves as a reminder that many men fail to open up about health problems, and similar campaigns such as Decembeard, Janu-hairy and the Sides of March all share the primary aim of getting men to seek help and stand up to their issues, and not ignore them.
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