14 DAY TRIAL // What do football and alcohol have to do with being a man? A recent psychological study reveals that the roaring crowds may be drinking their way through the game in an effort to compensate for not being man enough to play in it.
Richard de Visser of the University of Sussex did in-depth interviews with 31 men age 18-21 and concluded that they commonly use one type of typically masculine behavior to compensate for their inability to perform another. "What is really interesting about the study is the idea of using one type of typically masculine behavior to compensate for another. For example, men who are not confident in their sporting abilities may try and make up for this by drinking excessively," said Visser.
Young men's health is currently an area of serious concern, with adolescent and young adult men being more likely to drink excessively and use illegal drugs, to engage in risky casual sex and to be to be killed or injured in road traffic accidents. This research shows that understanding the desire to appear masculine may hold the potential to reduce such unhealthy behavior.
"It seems that many young men aspire to an idea of masculinity that includes emotional and physical toughness, being the bread-winner, confidence in risk-taking and sexual confidence. A variety of behaviors, some that have a positive impact on health, some that have a negative, are employed to develop and demonstrate such masculine identities," says Visser.
"If these findings are used effectively they may be able to have an impact on the growing levels of anti-social behavior such as binge-drinking, violence and illicit drug-use," he added. "Young men could be encouraged to develop a competence in a healthy typically male area - such as football - to resist social pressures to engage in unhealthy masculine behaviors."