ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the contributions toward our understanding of masculinity from psychology. It examines psychological works that blend with various aspects of biological sciences. The chapter discusses Sigmund Freud, who thought the roots of masculinity are developed in childhood experiences – a way of thinking that remained steadfast for decades. It explores the experiential theorizing of gender and considers the biological theorizing of gender. Many decades after Freud’s work, Nancy Chodorow argued that boys must break their primary attachment to their mothers in order to realize a heterosexual and masculine identity. With sex roles, psychologists would look more to the influence of culture in the creation of masculinity instead of just family dynamics. The chapter presents several areas of research concerning the biological influence into the construction of masculinity. The field of epigenetics will likely grow as an academic discipline that examines both the biological/genetic and cultural influences on gender.
