Abstract Book of the 3rd Global Conference on Gender Studies
Year: 2025
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A Man’s Rightful Place? Examining the Relationship Between Masculine Conformity, Group-Based Relative Deprivation and Far-Right Radicalism in White American Men
Karlotta Hülsebus, Joanna Lindström
ABSTRACT:
Right-wing shifts and far-right radicalization pose a pressing global threat. While the gender gap in far-right support is widely recognized, little is known about the empirical relationship between conformity to traditional masculine norms and far-right radicalism in men. This study examined the influence of group-based relative deprivation (GRD) on the relationship between masculine conformity and far-right radicalism in a sample of White US-American men (N = 195), testing for mediation and moderation as possible explanatory models. Additionally, distinct effects for the separate subscales of masculine conformity (CMNI-22) were explored. While the results offered support for the hypothesized mediating role of GRD, the direct effect of conformity to masculine norms on far-right radicalism persisted. Further analyses revealed an interaction between conformity to masculine norms and group-based relative deprivation, with those participants scoring high on both conformity to masculine norms and GRD reporting the highest intention of far-right radicalism. Thus, the present study proposes GRD as a moderator of masculine conformity in predicting far-right radicalism. Among the subscales of masculine norms, Power over Women emerged as a central predictor of both GRD and far-right radicalism. Implications for future research on (far-right) radicalism and potential interventions are discussed.
Keywords: masculinities, conformity to masculine norms, radicalization, extremism, relative deprivation