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Main Category: Men's health
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Article Date: 16 Aug 2011 - 2:00 PDT
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Many men feel the need to impose their bravado, machismo or just plain ego. Seems this may actually be dangerous however. Psychologists call it the "culture of honor," a mostly male mindset that places a high value on defending one's reputation at any cost. This culture adds up to approximately 7,000 deaths a year in the Unites States.
A doctor from the University of Oklahoma, Ryan Brown compared rates of accidental deaths, including car accidents, drowning and over exertion in all U.S. states. He found the so-called "honor states" had higher rates than non-honor states (such as New York, Ohio, Wisconsin).
The behavior was most common in more rural areas of the honor states, he found. In the cities of honor states, he found a 14% higher accidental death rate than in the cities of non-honor states. He found a 19% higher rate in the smaller towns of honor states compared to non-honor states.
Brown explains:
"People who embrace these values also report more risk-taking. In a smaller town, your reputation is much more important. This dangerous male mindset is also more prevalent among those living in the South and West, in such states as South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming."
In a second study, Brown surveyed 103 college students from his university, including 79 women. The participants completed tests measuring how much they subscribed to the culture of honor, finished a self-esteem test and answered questions about their tendencies toward risk-taking behavior. A sample statement to which they agreed or not was: "A real man doesn't let other people push him around."
There is some history to this mindset. It has been previously noted that this culture of honor originated with the Ulster Scots (mistakenly sometimes called the Scotch-Irish) who came to the United States during the 18th century.
In their homeland Brown said, they were herders and were always being invaded by someone. They learned to protect and defend themselves, not always in ideal ways. A typical statement, Brown noted: "You take one of our cows; we will take your whole herd."
Richard Nisbett, the Theodore M. Newcomb Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan adds:
"If you kept animals for a living, you ran the risk of having your entire livelihood taken away [if someone opens the pasture gate, for instance. If you stand the risk of losing your livelihood easily and the state is not around to protect you, you are going to develop this kind of culture of honor."
Some states aren't honor states and Nisbett said that the behavior is kept going partly by the false belief that everyone else subscribes to the same mindset.
Joe Vandello, an associate professor of psychology at the University of South Florida concludes:
"We tend to think of the culture of honor as historical. But elements of this culture of honor still exist today. Simply becoming aware of the phenomenon might help reduce the behavior, even though it can become part of your programming. We have a will, we have a choice."
Written by Sy Kraft
Copyright: Medical News Today
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