“A man should never complain.” “He should keep quiet and focus on his work.”
A study by the University of Zurich in Switzerland found that men who hold these traditional masculine ideals are at higher risk of suicide .
It is well known that suicide rates are higher among men than women worldwide, but this study deepens our understanding of what psychological characteristics among men are more likely to increase their suicide risk .
If you cling to the Showa-era idea of what a man should be, you may find it difficult to live.
Those who are bound by traditional masculinity are more than twice as likely to commit suicide
Far more men commit suicide each year than women.
This is a global trend, with suicide rates for men being roughly two to four times higher than women.
The researchers point out that this gender difference may be due to the difficulty of identifying men who are having suicidal thoughts.
For example, men are less likely than women to disclose their suicidal thoughts to doctors or others, and they tend to move from secretly having suicidal thoughts to actually acting on them more quickly.
As a result, doctors, friends and family often cannot persuade them to commit suicide or provide help in time.
On the other hand, psychologists from the University of Zurich noted that “the psychological and social factors that lead men to have suicidal thoughts are poorly understood.”
In other words, the question is what kind of psychology drives men to commit suicide .
Therefore, the research team decided to examine the relationship between men’s social and psychological aspects and suicide risk.
For this study, approximately 500 male volunteers living in German-speaking countries were asked to complete a series of questionnaires.
The survey included questions about the extent to which participants identified with traditional masculine ideals, whether they had ever had suicidal thoughts or actually engaged in suicidal behavior in the past or present, and their level of depressive symptoms.
First, we analyzed the participants’ socio-psychological characteristics and were able to divide them into three major types .
The first is “Egalitarian.”
For example, this type of man does not cling to old ideas such as “men should be like this and women should be like that,” but supports the flexible idea that “men and women should be equal,” and 60% of participants fell into this category.
The second is “Player . ”
Although this type of man held strong images of stereotypical masculinity, it was almost always in relation to women’s issues.
The masculinity that the playboy embodied was considered important in having many female sexual partners and winning the heart of the woman of his choice.
This was the case for 15% of participants.
Finally, the third one is “Stoic . ”
This type of man literally held strong traditional ideas about masculinity, such as “men should work quietly,” “even if things are tough, they should suppress their emotions and not complain,” and “in order to win the competition, they need to take risks . ”
25% of participants fell into this stoic category.
When comparing the relationship between each type and suicide risk, it was found that Stoics were more than twice as likely to attempt suicide as Egalitarians .
In contrast, playboys were not found to be at significantly increased risk of suicide.
So why are people who are more tied to traditional masculinity more likely to commit suicide?
What makes a stoic man choose to take his own life?
Researchers have offered insight into how a stoic mentality tied to traditional masculinity may lead to suicidal thoughts and behavior.
First of all, the image of a man that a stoic type has is based on the idea that “men should work in silence” and “men should suppress their emotions and never complain,” as mentioned earlier.
So if, for example, you are stuck at work, have no money and can’t support your family, or have problems in your personal life, you will end up keeping all that stress and suffering bottled up inside and keeping it to yourself .
Also, because they believe that it is wrong to “complain weakly,” they are unable to confide their worries to those around them or ask for help.
They may think that if they confide their worries to close friends, lovers, parents, or siblings, they will be seen as weak, which only deepens their sense of isolation.
Ultimately, they come to the conclusion that “I have to solve the problem by myself,” and choose to “take my own life” as a solution.
Researchers point out that stoics are so tied down by the belief that “men should be strong” that they are more likely to drive themselves to their own deaths.
The research team also noted an interesting finding: “When exposed to psychological stress, stoic types who hold a traditional masculine image were less likely to show typical mental disorders such as depression, but were more likely to show physical problems such as back pain . ”
This is probably because, for stoic men, complaining about mental illnesses like depression is seen as a sign of “weakness” or “a lack of masculinity.”
Instead, it is thought that stress-related ailments are more likely to be reported as physical problems such as back pain or headaches rather than as mental illness.
Based on these results, the research team believes that these findings could be used to quickly identify men at risk of suicide.
A man who believes that “men should suppress their emotions and work in silence” but who complains of physical ailments may be sending out an SOS signal that he is at risk of suicide.