How does Traditional Masculinity Ideology and Emotional Competence relate to Aggression and Physical Domestic Violence in Cisgender Men?

Background: Men are disproportionately often perpetrators of physical domestic violence (DV).Gender role constructs, such as traditional masculinity ideologies (TMI), are broadly accepted as anexplanation for this effect. Emotional competence further constitutes an important role in TMI andthe prevention of DV. However, the interactions between these constructs remains unclear. Objective: The present study aims to investigate associations of TMI with aggression, DVperpetration, and emotional competence, while also examining emotional competence as a potentialmoderator. Method: A sample of 428 cisgender men (Mage = 43.9 ± 15.3) from German-speaking countries inEurope completed an anonymous online survey that assessed TMI, aggression, and DV perpetrationas well as alexithymia, emotion regulation, and self-compassion as indicators of emotionalcompetence. Results: Strong TMI were associated with high levels of aggression and overall reduced emotionalcompetence, as reflected by high levels of alexithymia, frequent use of expressive suppression, andlow levels of self-compassion. Strong conformity to TMI was associated with a higher likelihood forDV perpetration when considering relevant sociodemographic covariates. Moderation analysesrevealed that expressive suppression buffered the association between TMI and DV perpetration. Conclusions: Men with strong TMI report high levels of aggression and impaired emotionalcompetence. While strong conformity to TMI was associated with frequent perpetration of DV,higher expressive suppression seems to buffer the association between TMI and DV perpetration.The present study highlights the importance of addressing gender ideologies when working onaggression, DV perpetration and emotional competence in men.