Young men who believe that "real men don't cry" may be more prone to suicide, a new study suggests.
It has long been known that men are more likely than women to end their own lives: In the United States, the suicide death rate among men is about 3.5 times that of women, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The statistics raise the question of whether traditional norms about masculinity could play some role, said lead researcher Daniel Coleman.
On the face of it, he explained, it makes sense that those expectations of "manly" men which include denying emotions, not reaching out for help, and aggressiveness could contribute to suicide risk.
But it's also a challenging subject to study, said Coleman, an associate professor in the Graduate School of Social Services at Fordham University in New York City.
To start to dig into it, his team used data from a health study that began tracking over 20,700 U.S. teenagers back in 1995. By 2014, 22 of them had died by suicide all but one of whom were men.
The researchers found that young men who'd scored in the "high traditional masculinity" range were 2.4 times more likely to die by suicide than other men.
That measure was based on traits like "not crying," a resistance to being "emotional" or "moody," staying physically fit, and "risk-taking."