Unraveling Male Perspectives on Gender Roles. Analyzing Social Influences in Justin Baldoni's TED Talk

Seminar paper from the year 2021 in the subject Gender Studies, grade: 5.0, , course: Social and developmental psychology, language: English, abstract: This study delves into the examination of how males contemplate social influences and perceive assigned roles of masculinity and femininity. Employing a qualitative research design and adopting a social constructionism epistemological approach, we analyzed the transcribed script of Justin Baldoni's TED talk using a reflexive thematic approach. The findings revealed that a male child tends to positively identify with in-group behavior when there are perceived benefits, while negative identification occurs if such behavior is deemed illegitimate, unstable, or harmful through self-introspection. Additionally, the study suggests that a male child's understanding of sex-role stereotypes and preferences for sex-appropriate or inappropriate behavior are subtly ingrained by society at a young age. The data further endorse the applicability of a gender schematic approach to sex-role socialization and advocate for integrating the concepts of positive and negative social group identification into the social identity theory.