The term "toxic masculinity" (TM) was first coined during the Women's Rights movement in the 1970s to highlight dangerous traits of traditional masculinity, such as aggression, misogyny, and risk-taking. Generation Z revived the term during the #MeToo movement, as TM has often been studied in relation to sexual violence. The present study aimed to examine how demographic factors may contribute to TM in a sample of 154 emerging adults in the US. A revised version of Mosher & Sirkin's (1984) hypermasculinity inventory was used, as well as an open-ended question asking participants what they believe is wrong with the opposite gender.


MANOVA results suggest that men (M=20.61, SD=4.90), as compared with women (M=17.60, SD=4.05), and political conservatives (M=19.70, SD=5.67), as compared with liberals (M=18.15, SD=4.15) exhibited higher levels of TM. Post-hoc analysis suggested that female graduating seniors reported significantly higher TM scores as compared with female freshmen, suggesting they may be adopting more dominant and aggressive attitudes as they prepare to finish college. Qualitative findings revealed that female students identified gender norm frustrations with their male peers, such as misogyny and entitlement, while male students expressed resentment that women expected too much from them.


Many young men tend to exhibit misogynistic attitudes when they feel their masculinity is challenged, such as trying to establish their identity as college freshmen in a new environment, resulting in higher scores of TM. Conservatives value order and stability, and their preference for traditional gender norms is likely why they are reporting higher TM. Women's rise in assertiveness with time was an unexpected finding, and although the study was not longitudinal, it suggests that young women might feel pressured to be more "masculine" in order to succeed professionally.