The Role of Masculinity and Thought Suppression in Men’s Alcohol-Related Aggression
Consumption of alcohol has been associated with aggression behaviors. According to Berke et al., 2019, the effect of alcohol on aggression differs among different people. Traditional masculine gender norms were found to be the main causing factor for aggression related to alcohol. Also, people with a habit of engaging in thought suppression have increased the risk of behavioral aggression and disinhibition. From the 245 men who were used in the study, and who experienced heavy episodic alcoholism, thought suppression was directly associated with the harsh masculine norm and alcohol-related aggression. Additionally, suppression of mind partially relates to the traditional masculine norm and trait aggression.
The reason why I picked this article is that masculinity and thought suppression has a more significant impact on violence and aggression we experience in society today. Masculine students are well known to be bullies in schools, especially when they engage in alcoholism. Other students develop a notion that such students should be feared because they are aggressive when drunk. Also, in our societies today, people with good masculine outlooks are feared, and most people do not find themselves in any feuds with them due to the potential risk of violence and aggression. This is interesting because I believe that aggression is related to masculinity and family backgrounds on the consumption of alcohol. Berke et al., 2019 have discussed essential findings from their study to confirm that, indeed, masculinity significantly contributes to alcohol-related aggression.
The insights learned from the article from the social-learning perspective shows that boys and men are taught to “be a man,” that is, to be aggressive through a set of essential learning processes such as modeling, reinforcement, and punishment. The distinct and fundamental norms of masculinity are status, toughness, and antifemininity. The toughness norm is where men believe that they must appear aggressive, physically, and emotionally strong. Also, from the article, endorsement of toughness norm and thought suppression has a greater tendency to attempt to control unwanted norms. There is a close association between the trait and alcohol-related aggression and endorsement of toughness norm.
According to Lecture 12 on Drug Use and Addiction and the Brain Reward Circuits, psychoactive substance use have casual, chronic dependence, beneficial, and problematic usage. Problematic use refers to a situation where drugs such as alcohol start to have negative consequences for an individual, friends/family, and society, such as aggression and violence. Alcohol is administered into the body through the digestive system; hence, absorption to the brain is slow. Alcohol stimulates behavior, which makes people do things they would not do ordinarily, such as aggression. Some people can tolerate the chronic effects of alcohol, such as behaving appropriately, even when still drunk. However, the withdrawal effects of alcohol are severe and might make the users aggressive due to low GABA levels that cause the brain to be overactive.
The main criticism of this article by Berke et al., 2019 is that the results might be biased because social desirability motivations may influence men in the study findings to underreport their relationship between alcohol and trait aggression. People with habitually suppressed thoughts may be inaccurate and unreliable in their self-assessment because the experience might evoke chronically avoided thoughts.