Intensions Consulting: Mental Health Literacy

This month Intensions Consulting and the University of British Columbia published a new study in the Journal of Mental Health, under the title, 'Men's depression and suicide literacy: a nationally representative Canadian survey.'

The study, which surveyed 901 English-speaking Canadian adults, found a number of gaps in men's depression literacy, with over a third of Canadian adults (38%) incorrectly believing that having several distinct personalities may be a sign of men’s depression, and almost a quarter of Canadian adults (23%) incorrectly believing that men with depression often speak in a rambling and disjointed way.

"These findings highlight some significant misconceptions and literacy gaps around men's mental health" says Nick Black, Managing Partner at Intensions Consulting and one of the study co-authors. "Among Canadian adults, there appears to be some confusion between depressive symptoms and the symptoms associated with other mental illnesses."

On the topic of men's suicide a similar lack of literacy was found, with a third of Canadian adults (33%) incorrectly believing that men talking about suicide always increases the risk of suicide, and almost a quarter of Canadian adults (23%) incorrectly disbelieving that men who want to attempt suicide can change their mind quickly.

"Misconceptions about men talking about suicide increasing their risk for suicide invokes silences and stigma around men’s mental illness" says John Oliffe, Professor at the University of British Columbia and the lead investigator at Men’s Health Research. "Flowing from that, men with suicidal thoughts don’t feel safe to express what they are experiencing – and potential helpers tend to avoid such conversations fearing they might inadvertently trigger the man’s self-harm.”

Given the evidence that mental health knowledge can increase with education, which in turn reduces stigma and improves help-seeking behavior, the study concluded that more concerted efforts are needed to advance public literacy on the topics of men’s depression and suicide.

ABOUT THIS STUDY

These are the findings of an Intensions Consulting study conducted between August 29, 2014 and September 11, 2014 on behalf of Men’s Health Research at the University of British Columbia. For this study, an online survey was administered with a sample of 901 English-speaking Canadian adults between the ages of 18 and 83. The sample was stratified and weightings were employed to balance demographics, ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the targeted Canadian population according to Census data, and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. A traditional unweighted probability sample of this size would produce results considered accurate to within plus or minus 4.6 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. For a full copy of the published study and data tabulations, click here.

Masculinity in American Culture

Over the past few months I've been spending quite a bit of time in the United States – both for business and pleasure. In contrast to many European and Asian countries, one aspect of American culture that always surprises me is the degree to which they embrace ‘masculinity’ in their everyday lives. 

From the way that meetings are conducted, to the car brands that people prefer, masculinity seems to play an important role in mainstream American culture.

Defining Cultural Masculinity

For almost half a century, the famous social psychologist Prof. Geert Hofstede has been conducting research based on six dimensions of culture. One of those six dimensions is masculinity, a cultural dimension in which “social gender roles are clearly distinct: Men are supposed to be assertive, tough, and focused on material success; women are supposed to be more modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life.”

Below is a table outlining the social norms frequently found in masculine cultures:

Bigger, Faster, Harder, Stronger

According to the research, America is considered a higher masculinity country, meaning that many of the masculinity attributes listed above also reflect mainstream American culture. To wrap up this post, I thought I’d provide a few practical examples of how masculinity can influence everyday American behavior.

Muscle cars are defined by Merrium Webster as, “American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines.” These powerful cars are an icon of American masculinity, with research showing that “engine power of a car is more important in masculine cultures. In feminine cultures, people may not even know their car engines power.”

Madison Avenue is arguably the home of global advertising, located in New York City, the home of American corporate culture. According to research, “masculine cultures show more confidence in the advertising industry… [it’s believed that] the skepticism of feminine cultures toward advertising is based on their markets having been relatively swamped by advertising reflecting US masculine values.”

In America, information is often presented rationally. According to research, “across cultures it appears that feminine cultures read more fiction and masculine cultures more non-fiction… Members of masculine cultures seem to be more concerned with data and facts: members of feminine cultures are more interested in the stories behind the facts.”