Authors:

Emma Tung

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About Paper:

Emotional vulnerability is the voluntary ability to acknowledge and express emotions. This willingness is often averted in social settings for males, especially in the male athletic setting where "mental toughness" is prioritized. In this thesis, male emotional vulnerability is examined within the collegiate male population. It evaluates the psychological impact through utilization of a self-report measure of emotional vulnerability and disclosure within the collegiate circuit, specifically within the NCAA. Participants were recruited from University of Chicago and Ivy League institutions, and all were required to complete an online survey that assessed discomfort with emotional expressiveness among family, friends, teammates, and peers. Both collegiate athletes and non-collegiate athletes participated in order to assess differences between the groups. The experiment utilized a 18-item psychological vulnerability composite including demographics, practice duration, and college experience. The exploratory factor analysis also allowed assessment of other dimensions, specifically self-worth and sports cultural impact. After collecting the survey answers, collegiate athletes reported lower emotional vulnerability than non-athletes with significant difference between the mean scores, and these findings supported the hypothesis, suggesting that collegiate athletics is associated with greater emotional avoidance. The results could demonstrate that team masculine norms and peer pressure increase the inability to share emotions. The results also should promote more help-seeking interventions and mental health treatment, hopefully de-stigmatizing the ideals within toxic masculinity.

Source:

University of Chicago

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Co-authors:

Emma Tung