This thesis seeks to explore questions of 'individual masculine identity', with reference to hegemonic gender norms concerning men's participation in interpersonal relationships characterised by 'caring'. In the form of empirical research involving in-depth narrative interviews with eight men working in care-related professions (four nurses, three counsellors and a youth mentor), the study considers how gender norms interplay with personal meaning-making in interviewees' constructions of self and gender vis-a-vis their involvement within a 'feminised' area of social life. In this respect, the concept of 'notions if difference' emerges as providing a salient angle on the formation of masculine identity. As interviewees recount their experiences of providing care in an occupational capacity, they are situated in relationship to certain 'public' stereorypic discourses 'about' care-giving men, each discourse underpinned by one of two distinct notions of 'difference', Stereotypic discourses such as 'Male carers are feminine' arid 'Male carers are gay' are based on a cultural logic of the individual man as being 'different as a man' - and 'gender atypical' - for working in care. In contrast, stereotypic discourses such as 'Male carers, as men, pose a sexual risk' and 'Male carers, as men, serve to provide carees with a 'male role model" are underpinned by a cultural logic of the individual man as being 'different as a carer' (that is, 'gender typical'), with 'implications' for his role and his relationships with others. Across all the interviews, 'difference' - in these various and varying discursive forms - is present in how each man organises, and attaches gendered signification to, his care-giving experiences. Importantly, these notions of 'difference' 'act' as both a constraint upon identity (as a source of dis empowerment for the individual and of potential subordination with concern to gender norms) and a resource for identity (as a source of self-empowerment and agency, whether this involves resistance to or complicity in the sustenance of gender convention). In order to highlight the specific nature of interviewees' relationships to notions of 'difference', discussion of the data takes the form of five main data chapters. Each of the first four of these chapters is divided between the narratives of two interviewees, who have been 'paired up' based upon apparent similarities in their situation (e.g., similar work environment, the raising of similar issues), as well as them both invoking particular stereotypic discourses. Here, a psycho-social theorisation of subjectivity (see, for e.g., Hollway and Jefferson 2000) is applied to the data, whereby the biographically unique nature of each interviewee's experiences is emphasised. It is sought, in this application, to consider something of the individually specific anxieties and desires that may inform the construction of masculine identity within, and in respect of, the care-giving context. The fifth data chapter builds on these ideas by unpacking matters of biography, that is, analysing narratives concerning interviewees' broader (non-care-giving, and personal-historical) relations to gender and gender norms; in this context, the potential of a psycho-social perspective for studies of masculine identity is further explored.

This thesis explores the potential determinants of gender differences in self-estimated intelligence. In particular, it addresses the determinants of gender differences in the ‘domain-masculine intelligence type’ that is expected to yield the most significant gender differences in the self-estimated intelligence model (SEI). Equally, it sets to confirm the occurrence of the ‘hubris-humility effect’ (HHE), i.e. male overestimation and female underestimation of cognitive abilities, specifically in the above intelligence type. The thesis contains eight chapters, ten correlational studies and five experimental studies. The thesis is divided in two sections. Section one contains the ten correlational studies and section two the five experimental studies. All studies are independent but related. Chapter one contains a review of the relevant literature. It is divided into three sub-sections: overview, intelligence and hubris-humility effect (HHE) and domain-masculine intelligence type (DMIQ): gender differences in self-estimated intelligence. Chapter two (Studies 1 and 2) introduces the domain-masculine intelligence type and demonstrates it is the most sensitive indicator of gender differences in the SEI model. HHE is shown to be the most pronounced and confined to occurring on DMIQ. Equally, gender is shown as the best predictor of DMIQ, over and above a number of other demographic variables. Chapter three (Studies 3 to 5) sets to validate the occurrence of HHE on DMIQ, while it introduces psychometric intelligence (‘g’) and implicit beliefs about intelligence as possible determinants of DMIQ. Studies 3 and 4 examine the role ‘g’, as measured by fluid (Gf) and crystallised (Gc) intelligence tests, play in DMIQ. Results confirm the occurrence of HHE on DMIQ and reveal significant gender differences in Gf and Gc, with medium and large effect sizes. Gender is shown to influence the relationship between ‘g’ and DMIQ. Contrary to prediction, a psychometric intelligence measure (Gf), and not gender, is the best predictor of DMIQ. Implicit beliefs about intelligence play no role in the prediction of DMIQ. Study 5 adds gender identity variables, i.e. masculinity and femininity, and self-construct measures, i.e. self-esteem and self-control, to Gf and Gc, as possible predictors of DMIQ. Results validate the existence of HHE on DMIQ and confirm gender as the best predictor DMIQ, over and above ‘g’, gender identity variables and self-construct measures. Chapter four (Studies 6 and 7) examines the role gender identity, i.e. masculinity and femininity, affect measures, i.e. positive and negative affect, and self-constructs, i.e. self-esteem and self-control, play as potential determinants of DMIQ. Both studies confirm the existence of HHE on DMIQ. Study 6 confirms gender as the best and only predictor of DMIQ. Study 7 affirms masculinity as the best predictor of the intelligence type, followed by gender. Chapter five (Studies 8 and 9) examines the role of culture in DMIQ and its impact on the existence of HHE on DMIQ. Gender identity variables are also included to validate the earlier findings and to explore the role masculinity plays as a predictor of DMIQ, in three distinct cultures. Study 8 was conducted in Czech Republic and Study 9 in Colombia and United Kingdom. Results confirm the occurrence of HHE on DMIQ in all three cultures, with medium effect size for the Czech sample and large effect sizes for the Colombian and British samples. Gender is shown to influence the relationship between gender identity variables and DMIQ. Contrary to prediction, masculinity and not gender, is the best predictor of DMIQ in the Czech Republic sample. In the Colombian sample, none of the entered variables significantly contributes to the prediction of DMIQ. In the British sample, gender is affirmed as the best predictor of DMIQ, followed by masculinity. The results suggest that culture influences the composition of DMIQ determinant(s). Chapter six (Study 10) explores the role of DMIQ in a precocious sample, i.e. members of Mensa UK. It also sets to validate the occurrence of HHE prevails on DMIQ in a population that is knowledgeable about intelligence as well as aware of its own intellectual superiority. Beliefs about intelligence and gender identity variables are also included to explore whether they will play a role in the prediction of the intelligence type. The results confirm the existence of HHE on DMIQ in this precocious population, providing additional evidence for the degree of embeddedness and impact of HHE on highly gifted individuals. Gender is confirmed as the only and best predictor of DMIQ. Chapter seven (Studies 11 to 15) contains five independent experimental studies. Study 14 was conducted with three independent samples to test three varying task-confidence conditions. The results of the three individual conditions are reported in the Appendix, while the combined total results are reported in Study 14. The five experiments consist of repeated measurement of DMIQ and a psychometric task (TCAP) that also includes task-success probability probes (TSP). Participants are asked to estimate DMIQ before and after the task. The task contains numerical, reasoning, and crystallised intelligence items as well as task-success or task-confidence probes. The number of the psychometric items and probes are manipulated per experiment to assess their impact on the results. As such, the task is expected to be gender-stereotype inducing. As in the correlational studies, HHE is predicted to occur in the pre- and posttask DMIQ conditions. Results of all five studies validate the existence of HHE on DMIQ1 and DMIQ2, with medium to very large effect sizes. Likewise, a significant decrease in the DMIQ estimates is observed in all five studies, with small to medium effect sizes. In addition, male advantage is confirmed on the psychometric task and the task-success probes. Gender differences in TCAP are observed in Studies 11, 12 and 15, with males correctly solving significantly more psychometric problems than females. Equally, gender differences in TSP occur in Studies 11, 12 and 13, with males providing significantly higher task-confidence answers than females. To validate the earlier results, gender is expected as the best predictor of DMIQ1 and DMIQ2. Results reveal that gender is the best predictor of DMIQ1 in three out of five studies and in two out of five studies in DMIQ2. Unexpectedly, task-success probes are twice the best predictor of DMIQ1 and three times the best predictor of DMIQ2. Moreover, gender influences the relationship between TPS and DMIQ1 and DMIQ2 in all five studies. Equally, gender influences the relationship between TCAP and DMIQ1 and DMIQ2, in all but one analysis. Surprisingly, the DMIQ1 and DMIQ2 estimates that are provided by participants in the three task-success probability groups, i.e. low, average and high, are startlingly accurate, with the exception of Study 14. That is, low DMIQ estimates are provided by participants with low task-success confidence, average estimates are provided by participants with average task-success confidence and the highest DMIQ estimates by individuals with highest task-success confidence. Results for TCAP are complex and less accurate. Yet, for both TSP and TCAP, males provide significantly higher DMIQ1 and DMIQ2 estimates than females, providing further evidence for the occurrence of male hubris in the self-estimation of ability process. Chapter eight presents a brief summary of results and conclusions of this research. Equally, limitations of this research are discussed and a number of future research recommendations provided. The appendix includes the three individual condition studies of Study 14; that is Studies 14A, 14B and 14C. The TCAP and TSP overviews for Studies 11 to 15 are also included.

Objectives. Psychological androgyny, as defined by endorsing instrumental and expressive characteristics, has been associated with psychological wellbeing. There is also a growing evidence based for the benefits of coping flexibility for wellbeing. Given that the ability to respond to situations flexibly theoretically applies to both androgyny and coping flexibility, research linking these concepts is warranted. Research in China has found that androgyny is related to increased coping flexibility. The aim of this study was to explore these concepts within the British Isles, specifically investigating whether coping flexibility mediates the relationship between androgyny and distress. Design. A cross-sectional, quantitative design was used. Methods. Measures of androgyny, coping flexibility and psychological distress were completed by 318 adults currently living in the British Isles, via an online survey. Relationships between the variables were examined using Pearson correlation coefficients. Mediation analyses were completed using Bootstrapping analysis to assess whether coping flexibility mediated the relationship between androgyny and psychological distress. Results. Increased levels of androgyny and coping flexibility were both associated with reduced psychological distress. Higher androgyny scores were associated with more coping flexibility (β = 0.340, p = 0.000). Stronger endorsement of androgyny was related to reduced psychological distress, through coping flexibility (ab = -0.4228 CI [-.7132, -.2159]). Conclusion. The findings go some way to explaining the relationship between androgyny and wellbeing, and indicate coping flexibility is an important aspect of coping. However, due to the disproportionate number of female students in the sample, generalisability of the findings is limited. Further analysis exploring different age groups and other conceptualisations of androgyny are warranted.

This thesis will critically evaluate the most abiding theories of female subjective development, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the complexity and autonomy of femininity. There has been a general paucity of scholarly interrogation of female subjectivity and female consumption in both psychoanalysis and Cultural Studies. This investigation offers much-needed, original insights into an area that has received very little academic attention since the 1970s and 1980s. In order to do this, the thesis will utilise psychoanalytical and Cultural Studies approaches to reflexively analyse the impact of the visual figure of the pop star Prince on his young female fans in the mid-1980s. Prince's enormous appeal to his young female fans in Britain was orchestrated predominantly on the visual plane. Although his musical talent was self-evident, his visual signification was his most striking intervention into contemporary debates on gender relations at a significant moment of cultural shift in gender relations. Psychoanalytically-informed analyses of female fans' responses to Prince's visual signification will identify an active and productive female subject. Such accounts are important in contradicting prominent Cultural Studies conceptualisations of female consumption of popular cultural texts, which render femininity as passive. The thesis will argue that the psychoanalytical and the cultural need articulating together in order to develop a convincing model of female autonomy and identification. That is, the inner and the outer of female subjectivity require simultaneous interrogation, if we are to make sense of how Prince's female fans consumed and negotiated his identity. In this way, female sUbjectivity might be understood as being an articulation of inner psychodynamics of subject formation and the social world of cultural meaning and signification.

The aim of this study is to explore how large women who are unhappy with their weight experience their everyday lives. This qualitative phenomenological research was conducted through semi-structured interviews with six participants (all who defined themselves as BMI ≥ 30), whose descriptions were then analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Two main themes were identified. The first highlighted the continual experience of being a monstrously huge body and how this impacts life. The second explored how perpetually feeling the eyes of others created everyday challenges that needed to be managed. This study seeks to contribute to the limited existing phenomenological UK based research undertaken with large women from the general population. Its findings suggest the highly ambiguous lived experience of being large. There is an intensely all-consuming bodily managing practice of disownment and positioning the body as an object-like form (medically, socially and impaired). There is constant self-surveillance and social scrutiny trying to be acceptable in their unacceptable bodies within their relational world. There is an attempt to avoid feelings of shame and to experience themselves as more than their body even though this is how they experience themselves. The clinical significance lies in its attempt to increase understanding from an integrative existential psychological perspective for weight management including; the experience of someone’s physical, social, psychological and spiritual worlds; the understanding and impact of general moods; embracing the ambiguity of the body and the enhancement of agency. The study recommends that further research be undertaken into how these areas are specifically experienced and the meaning given by large women.

Body dissatisfaction is now normative among men. Whilst the impact of this is recognized clinically (e.g., via depression and eating disorders), it also has more intimate, seemingly-mundane impacts and is therefore never benign. Body dissatisfaction research and advocacy then seeks to undo body dissatisfaction, recognizing it as a consequence of an injustice. Studies 1 and 2 of this thesis consisted of the implementation and mixed-methods evaluation of an intervention to reduce men’s body dissatisfaction. Results showed promise but also that the intervention was limited by its focus on individuals. This follows a general trend in body dissatisfaction research where people are pathologised as responsible for causing their own body dissatisfaction (e.g., gay men) and the role of culture is ignored or reduce to an epiphenomenon (i.e., mass media). Studies 3 and 4 attempted to redress this by comparing the ‘appearance potency’ not of gay and straight men themselves but of media that markets towards both groups (thereby also shifting the focus off the individual and onto culture). The results of these studies found a high level of appearance potency in both types of media, though media was not homogenous and had many positive aspects (e.g., LGBT political advocacy). This appearance potency was particularly prominent in the adverts reflecting how media content is dictated by their advertising revenue and their own profit imperative. This thesis concludes that neither individuals nor media per se drive body dissatisfaction. Instead it is the system that allows corporations to make profits when body dissatisfaction is engendered that does (i.e., capitalism). Advocacy must acknowledge this system; the intersectional harms it does including both misrecognition and maldistribution (e.g., through sweatshops; Fraser, 1995) if body dissatisfaction, among other forms of suffering, are to be undone.

This study is aimed at exploring in detail men’s perceptions and lived experiences of romantic relationships. According to Relate’s (2009, 2010) statistics, in the United Kingdom there is a rise in the number of male clients who present themselves for relationship counselling. There is consequently growing interest among counselling psychologists to understand romantic relationships from a male perspective. Critical realist epistemology underpins this study and is in accord with counselling psychology - both place emphasis upon uncovering subjective truths. A review of the literature on men and romantic relationships suggests that this subject has been predominantly studied from a ‘natural science’, positivist and quantitative framework. From a critical realist position, a gap in the literature appears to be that men’s subjective experiences and personal perceptions of romantic relationships have not been fully identified and understood in their own terms. This is addressed in this study. Using a qualitative approach seven heterosexual men were interviewed. The participants were predominantly white, British, university educated and employed professionals, aged 30-39, with experience of a romantic relationship. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed, and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The findings suggest that for these seven participants, romantic relationships were understood and experienced firstly in terms of why such relationships were established and the factors that contributed to the initial encounters. Secondly, participants identified several elements which they felt were significant in sustaining their relationships. Finally, participants noted a number of salient factors that contributed to the breakdown and/or ending of their romantic relationships. The findings that emerged from the study emphasise that this particular sample of men made sense of their romantic relationships in complex, iii specific, and varied ways. The implication of this for practice is that it reminds counselling psychologists that their engagement with clients should be collaborative, whilst emphasising and respecting their subjective experiences, feelings and meanings in their own terms – fundamental components of counselling psychology philosophy. The intricate, subjective and diverse ways in which the participants made sense of their romantic relationships have provided new and richer insights into this area and make a distinctive contribution to counselling psychology and relationship theory.

The research describes a qualitative investigation of men's pathways to seeking psychological help. A total of seven men were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. Qualitative data was analysed using grounded theory. One core category 'distancing' emerged from the analysis. This theme reflects the way in which men distance themselves from their distress and attempt to preserve a public appearance of coping. This general theme is reflected in five higher order categories that were also identified. These include: preserving a public identity; separating problems from self; crisis as disconnection; use of lay networks and self in psychological help. These themes are discussed in relation to men's pathways into psychological help and the network-episode model of help-seeking is revised to take account of these themes. Findings are discussed in relation to the relevant literature on help-seeking and masculinity. Recommendations for further research are made.

Women’s appearances are often judged by stringent, societal expectations, notably that of the thin-ideal. Pregnancy presents a definitive, yet naturally-occurring deviation from this norm. Research findings on how pregnant women cope with bodily changes however, are equivocal. Some feel protected from appearance-related concerns, whilst others experience increased body dissatisfaction. The aim of the present research was to build a composite understanding of factors that have an influence on body image attitudes and coping strategies in nulliparous women. Underpinned by a new realist and pragmatic approach, the research comprised of qualitative and quantitative components. The first aim was to explore messages about the pregnant body, and the role of exercise in UK magazines and online news sites. A qualitative, thematic examination of articles revealed a stark “invisibility” of the pregnant body in fashion magazines and a disparity in exercise messages and bodily portrayals among news and magazine publications. Overwhelmingly, beauty equated with the thin-ideal, not the pregnant body in news sites and fashion magazines. Study 1’s findings and existing pregnancy research guided Study 2; an exploration of women’s thoughts about their pregnant bodies, the role of exercise, and media-related, bodily descriptions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine pregnant women. Thematic analysis revealed that although women accepted their pregnant bodies, they experienced unwelcomed appearance-related comments, comparisons, and physical contact by others. Their pregnant bodies were perceived as being persistently scrutinised. Finally, a quantitative exploration of appearance-related experiences was conducted, using an online questionnaire administered to 181 pregnant women. Guided by Cash’s (2011a) theoretical model, a multitude of complex factors were examined using path analysis. The model revealed that body appreciation / acceptance, body shame and surveillance, fitness / health attitudes, and appearance evaluation / investment were influenced by historical (e.g., self-esteem, public self-consciousness) and proximal factors (e.g., social comparison). Exercise participation, clothing for concealment, and avoidance / fixing behaviours were associated with shame and surveillance, appearance comparisons, and physical discomforts in pregnancy. The present research indicates that women experience complex appearance- and fitness-related issues in pregnancy. The research concludes by highlighting the importance of nurturing self-esteem in pregnancy to increase body confidence and protect against negative coping strategies through the transition towards motherhood.

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