Before I begin with a discussion of selected research in the
psychology of men and masculinity using the gender role
strain paradigm (GRSP) as a framework, it is important to
address the question sometimes asked by those not familiar
with this field: Why do we need a psychology of men?
Isn’t all psychology the psychology of men? It is true that
boys and men have historically been the focal point of
most psychological research, but these were studies that
viewed males as representative of humanity as a whole and
that regarded the norms of masculinity as the standards for
the behavior of both males and females. Beginning in the
1960s, feminist scholars challenged this male-centric viewpoint,
making the case for a gender-specific approach, and
in the past 50 years have created a new psychology of
women. In the same spirit, men’s studies scholars from
psychology