The Minority Privilege: How Male Psychologists Perceive Their Gender in the Therapeutic Encounter

The demographic profile of psychology in South Africa has undergone a conspicuous shift, with men now accounting for only one-fifth of registered psychologists. Although existing research has shown that men often benefit from gendered advantage in female-saturated professions, this work has largely focused on career trajectories rather than on therapeutic practice. Similarly, research on gender in psychotherapy has predominantly examined clients’ perceptions of the therapist’s gender, leaving male psychologists’ own understandings largely unexplored. Situated within a social constructionist paradigm, this qualitative study examined how six male psychologists perceived their maleness in the therapeutic encounter. We conducted semi-structured interviews, which were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. In this article, we explore shared maleness as a therapeutic resource, with two related facets: (a) relatability and the ‘powerful position’, in which participants construed their gender as conferring both standing with clients and ease of engagement with men and (b) modelling a different kind of man, in which they positioned themselves as offering male clients an alternative form of masculinity. These findings extend the concept of minority privilege beyond occupational advantage, suggesting that masculine privilege may also operate relationally within therapeutic practice. The study highlights the importance of reflexive supervision in helping male psychologists critically examine how gender shapes therapeutic processes and outcomes.