Effects of Restrictive Masculinity Values on Black Male College Students’ Coping Behaviors and Stress

Higher education introduces many challenges and stressors, particularly for young Black men who are underrepresented on university and college campuses, and societal expectations of manhood that emphasize traditional views of masculinity can restrict young Black men’s ability to effectively manage and resolve these stressors. This study examined how traditional masculinity values that promote emotional restriction and minimize vulnerability are associated with Black male college students’ stress and self-efficacy. Data came from a cross-sectional sample of Black male college students (N = 82; Mage = 22.68 years, SD = 4.57; 72.90% undergraduate; 27.10% graduate) in the United States. The results from a path analysis model examining the relations between traditional restrictive masculinity values, adaptive and maladaptive coping behaviors, and perceived stress and self-efficacy indicated that students who endorsed more traditional masculinity values were less likely to report using adaptive coping behaviors that center emotional connection and vulnerability and more likely to utilize maladaptive coping behaviors that center emotional isolation. The use of these more maladaptive coping behaviors was related to greater stress and lower self-efficacy. These results underscore how coping behaviors may be one process underlying the relations between restrictive masculinity attitudes, Black college men’s stress, and self-efficacy.