Bullying, Masculinity, and Gun-Supportive Attitudes Among Men: A Path Analysis Testing the Structural Relationships Between Variables

Objective: A greater understanding of gun-related attitudes is necessary to develop, implement. and analyze gun violence prevention policies and interventions. Previous sociological research theorized that men's gun-related attitudes and behaviors are influenced by childhood bullying victimization and conceptions of masculinity. However, there is little empirical data to support these hypotheses, with the exception of research that connected honor ideology to gun enthusiasm. The current study sought to expand the extant literature by testing the theorized structural associations between variables. Method: Men living in the United States (N = 399) with an average age of 30.7 (SD = 8.59) years were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk to complete an online questionnaire containing measures of childhood bullying victimization, adherence to masculine gender norms, honor ideology. and gun-supportive attitudes (i.e., gun enthusiasm, positive attitudes toward guns, and gun control opposition). Results: Path analysis results indicated that childhood bullying victimization was connected to adherence to masculine gender norms, adherence to masculine gender norms was related to honor ideology, and honor ideology was associated with gun enthusiasm and positive attitudes toward guns. However, honor ideology was not associated with gun control opposition while controlling for education and political ideology. Conclusion: The results could be interpreted through a theoretical lens to suggest that men who experienced bullying in childhood may strictly conform to masculine ideals and have considerable interest in maintaining and protecting their masculinity. Such men may, therefore, cultivate gun enthusiasm and positive attitudes toward guns because guns convey attributes that are associated with desirable forms of masculinity.