Analyse Débat

#3 Men, Masculinities, and Reproduction: Why Work Still Defines Masculinity and How Social Norms Keep It That Way

Dr. Silvia Filippi, Dr. Vincenzo Iacoviello, Prof. Clara Kulich juillet 2026

Paid work has long been a benchmark of men’s worth. From the factory floor to Silicon Valley, men are still expected to prove their social value through productivity and endurance. But why does masculinity remain so deeply anchored with the concept of paid work, and what would it take to reconfigure this link? Social psychology offers insights into how cultural norms keep men trapped in secular and rigid ideals of success and how challenging masculinity norms could help men and those trapped in masculine work cultures thrive.

Work as Identity: When Productivity Becomes Proof of Masculinity

We have all heard, or witnessed firsthand, stories of men who devote every waking hour to work in pursuit of success. Elon Musk once famously declared, “You’ll need to work at least 80 hours a week. Nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week.” (Matousek, 2018) 

This kind of statement captures a broader cultural narrative: Success requires overworking, and an individual’s worth depends on their success. The work ethic principle and the broader value of meritocracy underpin modern societies, reflecting the belief that worth and success are earned through relentless performance. As Weber (1905) argued in TheProtestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, this ideology, originally rooted in Protestantism, has evolved into a secular moral framework that shapes how individuals define themselves and others. Although such standards apply to the “ideal” worker in general, they remain especially salient for men, for whom work continues to serve as a key marker of identity and self-worth – an expectation reinforced by social ideals and even by women’s alleged mating preferences for successful men (Walter et al., 2020). Losing a job, slowing down, or even taking time off can feel like and/or be perceived as a failure, not only because of financial insecurity, but because it threatens something deeper: the sense of being a “real man”.

While women, too, can experience similar pressures for unpaid work and paid work, particularly in a neoliberal society that devalues rest and care, the connection between masculinity and paid work runs especially deep. As noted by Cornwall et al. (2017), neoliberalism amplifies competitive, individualistic, and productivity-oriented ideals that align closely with dominant forms of masculinity, reinforcing the expectation that men must continually prove their worth through performance and economic success. It is rooted in long-standing social expectations that equate manhood with achievement, endurance, and productivity. Social psychology helps explain why.

The Precarious Nature of Masculinity

Masculinity, it turns out, is not a stable identity. While femininities are often perceived as more inherent and tied to biological markers such as the assumed capacity to get pregnant, manhood is seen as something that must be continually demonstrated, proven, and defended. This is the premise of the Precarious Manhood Theory (Vandello et al., 2008), which describes masculinity as “hard won and easily lost” (p.1328). In one study by Bosson et al. (2009), men were asked to perform a simple task: Some braided a doll’s hair (a stereotypically feminine activity), and others tied a rope (a gender-neutral activity). Those doing the “feminine” task reported higher anxiety and later chose more aggressive activities, like punching a bag or playing a violent video game. The mere symbolic threat to their masculinity – in the form of performing an action that is, for men, contra-stereotypical because it is feminine – triggered the need to reaffirm their masculinity through dominance and control.

Further research showed how this logic operates in everyday life. When men were asked to imagine losing their job, their physiological stress levels increased significantly, even more than when asked to imagine a breakup (Bosson et al., 2009). For many, paid work is not just a professional activity but a stage where masculinity is constantly performed and evaluated. Success at work means social approval; failure feels like identity loss.

Where Norms Come From: The Social Construction of Gender Roles

But where do these expectations come from? And why are they so difficult to change? According to the Biosocial Theory of Social Roles (Wood & Eagly, 2002), social norms are shaped by the historical division of labour between women and men. In modern Western societies men were historically assigned to production and power, and women to reproduction and care (though recent evidence challenges the universality of this pattern; Anderson et al., 2023). Over time, these gendered roles created what psychologists call descriptive norms (“Men are strong.”), which in turn may become expectations in the form of prescriptive norms (“Men should be strong.”) and proscriptive norms (“Men must not be weak.”; Prentice & Carranza, 2002). 

This learning process begins early. Studies show that adults tend to judge boys more harshly than girls when they display behaviours that are traditionally associated with the other gender. Boys who cry, show empathy, or express vulnerability are often teased or excluded by peers (Mulvey & Killen, 2015; Sullivan et al., 2018). Through this socialisation process of subtle rewards and punishments, they learn that approval depends on their toughness and control. Emotional restraint becomes a sign of strength; work and success become a way to demonstrate virility, and care becomes a risk. By adulthood, these lessons have already shaped men’s relationships, influencing how long they work, how much they sleep, and how much time they dedicate to family and relationships.

Work as a Masculinity Contest

The modern workplace is one of the main arenas where these expectations take shape—so-called masculinity contest cultures (Berdahl et al., 2018), where performance, competitiveness, and endurance are moral virtues. In such environments, working long hours, skipping rest, or ignoring fatigue are treated as signs of value – and the data confirm this. Across OECD countries, men work longer hours at their workplace than women and are more likely to report burnout (EU-OSHA, 2023). The World Health Organization estimates that employees working over 55 hours a week have a 35% higher risk of dying from heart disease than those who work less than 40 hours. Moreover, nearly 700,000 people die by suicide every year, and almost 80% of them are men, a pattern driven by multiple determinants, including work-related and socio-economic stressors, such as socio-economic shocks (job loss or financial stress; OECD, 2023). When productivity becomes identity, any failure, real or perceived, can feel existential. Psychologist Joseph Pleck (1995) called this phenomenon gender role strain: the chronic stress that comes from trying (and inevitably failing) to meet unattainable ideals of success, dominance, and emotional suppression. 

Paradoxically, the same cultural scripts that grant men privilege also make them vulnerable to exhaustion and isolation. The workplace becomes both their arena and their trap: a place where they must perform toughness even at the expense of their well-being and health.

Changing the Script: From Competition to Care

For decades, gender norms have been progressively challenged. Such normative changes beg the question of how men react to them. In experiments by Bosson and Michniewicz (2013) and Valsecchi et al. (2023), men were asked to read about the “feminisation” of society – for instance, the increasing number of men involved in paid and unpaid care work or family life. Many participants reacted defensively to this information: They emphasised more traditional masculine behaviours, expressed stronger sexist beliefs towards women, or distanced themselves from groups perceived as “less masculine”. Essentially, when masculinity in its traditional sense is threatened, some men double down on traditional ideals of power and hierarchy.

Yet not all do. Men who already held more egalitarian attitudes or valued relational qualities reacted differently: They saw these shifts as opportunities to redefine what being a man can mean. These findings suggest that social change is not linear but dialectical, made of advances and resistances, openness, and fear. The erosion of traditional masculinity can feel destabilising, but it also creates space for something new.

That “something new” is emerging in what some scholars have called caring masculinities (Elliott, 2016): identities that reject domination and embrace empathy, cooperation, and shared responsibility. These men are not “less masculine”; they are simply redefining what masculinity can include. In Coles’ (2009) interviews with Australian fathers who chose to work fewer hours to care for their children, many described the experience as becoming “better men”, not weaker ones: more aware, more patient, and more connected. Similarly, European studies (Scambor et al., 2014) show that men who share domestic and emotional labour report greater well-being and less stress.

Still, old stereotypes remain powerful. Even in countries with generous paternity leave, few men take it fully (Evertsson, 2014). In many workplaces, flexibility is still associated with a lack of ambition. When men request flexible schedules, they are penalised more harshly than women making the same request, a sign that caregiving is still coded as feminine and therefore incompatible with success (Thébaud & Pedulla, 2016). This creates a double bind: Men who conform to traditional expectations risk burnout; men who do not risk social stigma. 

Despite ongoing normative shifts, traditional gender norms continue to shape implicit judgments. In a study in Italy, participants chose who should receive parental leave when resources were limited (Filippi et al., 2022). Mothers were prioritised, reflecting the enduring link between women and caregiving, whereas this bias was weaker in the Netherlands. Similarly, fathers reported greater guilt for neglecting work when staying home, while mothers felt more guilt for working when their child is sick (Aarntzen et al., 2023).

As Tankard and Paluck (2016) noted, social change occurs when norms, not just behaviours, are perceived differently. Thus, the link between masculinity and paid work is not fixed but shaped by what societies value. Reducing pressure to conform to traditional gender ideals could enhance well-being for both men and women, allowing more authentic choices. Also, policies can help define or shift norms. For example, parental leave policy changes increase young adults’ beliefs that childcare should be equally divided between mothers and fathers (Schindler et al., 2024).

Yet new progressive norms may also create tension. When traditional and egalitarian expectations coexist, as they do today, men may struggle with conflicting demands about how to behave or succeed. This overlap could cause uncertainty, temporary stress, or defensive reactions such as backlash against perceived “feminisation” (Valsecchi et al., 2023).

Social psychology helps anticipate how these changes unfold. If institutions and media reward collaboration and balance rather than masculine cultures of overwork, perceptions of success and strength are likely to shift. Early signs of this evolution are visible: more people now value relationships, health, and free time over relentless productivity. Still, change is rarely linear; it involves negotiation and resistance. 

Paid work will likely remain central to men’s identity, but its meaning can evolve. Rather than proving endurance or domination, it can become a space for connection and shared purpose. 

References

Date de publication:

27 juillet 2026

Dans la catégorie:

Analyse Débat

Thèmes:

Etudes genre

Disciplines:

Sciences humaines, Sciences sociales

Auteur·e·s:

Silvia Filippi, Vincenzo Iacoviello, Clara Kulich