Masculinity contest culture is associated with less access to, and knowledge of, mental health benefits

Purpose A critical aspect of understanding any culture is how it manifests in artifacts and social interactions, yet this understanding largely remains absent from the MCC literature. We explore one costly organizational artifact: the employee benefits package. Design/methodology/approach Using cross-sectional survey data (N = 486), we examine the relationships between MCC and benefit provision, communication and knowledge confidence. Exploratory mediation analyses were conducted to explore the role of communication in MCC’s relations with employee benefit knowledge confidence. Findings MCC was significantly negatively associated with the provision of mental health benefits but showed no significant relationship with physical health benefits. MCC was negatively associated with benefits communication and confidence in mental health benefit knowledge, with communication partially mediating the relationship between MCC and knowledge confidence. Originality/value These findings demonstrate that organizational culture is linked to access to healthcare resources, particularly benefits serving mental, but not physical, health. Benefit communication may play a pivotal role in bridging gaps in employee understanding of benefits. This research extends Schein’s framework of organizational culture by highlighting MCC’s relationship with both structural and social artifacts within organizations. MCC may be a fruitful intervention target for employee healthcare access.