Abstract
Research shows that boys and men tend to hold stigmatised views of mental health and help seeking. A growing body of research conducted prominently in other countries and with adult men confirms the role that hegemonic masculinity norms play in promoting qualities that contradict characteristics required to help-seeking such as self-reliance and emotional control. Aotearoa struggles with one of the highest suicide rates of adolescent males within the OECD. Yet, research exploring the relationship between hegemonic masculinity and attitudes toward help-seeking for this bracket of the population is limited, making the current study vital for filling gaps and providing insights to the local context. To gain a better understanding of adolescent boys’ perceptions of hegemonic masculinity norms within Aotearoa and how these perceptions relate to their attitudes toward help-seeking for mental health, three in-depth focus groups were conducted with boys in secondary school in Aotearoa with 4-5 participants in each group. Three diverse secondary schools were selected, and fourteen male students aged 16-17 participated. Four themes were identified from the qualitative data using reflective thematic analysis; 1) Adolescent boys’ understanding of masculinity in Aotearoa; 2) Masculinity as a performance; 3) Adolescent boys’ internal world related to masculinity and help- seeking; and 4) Social institutions and daily practices that influence the performance of masculinity. Several overarching, distinct factors in boys’ internal and external worlds were found to contribute to the relationship between hegemonic masculinity and help-seeking. These factors, as outlined throughout the four themes include notions of cis-heteronormativity, a perceived dichotomy between masculinity and femininity, interpersonal dynamics that police behaviour and perpetuate stigma, and specific personal, social and practical barriers to accessing services. Taken together, this study provides new insight into the complex relationship between hegemonic masculinity norms and boys’ help-seeking and adds to the existing literature by demonstrating how this relationship plays out uniquely for adolescent boys in Aotearoa.