Men who have ‘traditional’ views on women are more likely to suffer from depression and poor mental health, a new study claims.

Having a playboy attitude and believing that men have more power over women was the main topic for the study conducted by lead author, Y. Joel Wong and his team from Indiana University Bloomington. Looking at men’s views on masculinity and what it means to be masculine in men from teenagers to 65 years old, Wong analyzed 11 different types of masculine perception and how theses views link to mental health.

These 11 ideas of masculinity included living a ‘playboy’ lifestyle, power over women, work as a highest priority, desire to win, push dominant behavior, engaging in violence, disdain for homosexuals and to take risks.

Of those that portrayed more of the ‘traditional’ masculine ideals, more chance of mental health problems such as depression, stress and socializing difficulties were found. The biggest causes of poor mental health from those studies were playboy attitude, insistence on being self-reliant, and wanting power over women. 

The rejection of these masculine norms in today’s society is also thought to lead to loneliness and hostility in men. Wong believes the masculine ideals of past years are becoming more and more outdated and unaccepted leading to a pushback on men who still hold them.

“I would say that it could be that these norms are increasingly being rejected and thought of as outdated, which means some men might get pushback by people who are uncomfortable with these norms,” said Wong. “For example, if you were maybe sexually promiscuous in the past, your partner might have just tolerated that. But today you might get pushback. So it could be much more stressful for a playboy today than it would’ve been in the past.” 

The study was published through the American Psychological Association in The Journal of Counseling Psychology.