Measuring the Toxic: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach to Measuring Toxic Masculinity

• In Event: Open Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 5: Gender, Work, and Inequality

Abstract

Discussions of toxic masculinity are on the rise and with no general sociologically established measure, little quantitative research has been done to study toxic masculinity’s potential effects on society. To address this gap, I create a measure from the cross-sectional data of the General Social Survey (GSS) data utilizing structural equation modeling (SEM) - specifically confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multiple indicators, multiple causes models (MIMIC) - to create a latent scale of toxic masculinity guided by its theoretical framework centering misogyny, homophobia, and violence. Testing model fits and validation through implementation I find that I have created a strong fit model measure of toxic masculinity. This model is intended to be used by other researchers utilizing the widely accessible GSS to test and measure toxic masculinity’s effects on society over time or society’s effect on toxic masculinity over time.

Author

• Chloe Ann Jones, University of Oklahoma