Adherence to Masculine Norms and Psychological Help Seeking among young adult men: The moderating role of Self Compassion

The present study examined how adherence to masculine norms and self-compassion play a role in shaping attitudes towards psychological help-seeking in young adult men. The paper describes a quantitative study of young adult men (ages 18–30) who identify as cisgender and are of Indian descent. Data were analysed using SPSS, employing correlation and multiple regression techniques to examine the relationships among variables. Findings revealed that adherence to masculine norms significantly predicted negative psychological help-seeking attitudes in men, reinforcing previous research that those who adhere to rigid masculine norms are less likely to seek support and help. In contrast, self-compassion did not significantly moderate this relationship, suggesting that while self-compassion may independently influence and encourage help-seeking attitudes, it does not buffer the negative influence of masculinity norms. Therefore, the results enumerate the importance of targeting gender norms in interventions aimed at improving psychological help-seeking behaviours among men.