ArticleBMC public health2010
Doing masculinity, not doing health? A qualitative study among Dutch male employees about health beliefs and workplace physical activity.
Article in BMC public health, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 99 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Workplace interventions that aim to improve employee health and well-being in male-dominated industries: a systematic review.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
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- Health and productivity benefits of a multicomponent workplace program by gender in small companies.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- Sex and Gender Differences in Psychosocial Risk Profiles Among Patients with Coronary Heart Disease - the THORESCI-Gender Study.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2024Article
- An Update on the Use of Wearable Devices in Men's Health.The world journal of men's health · 2023Review
- Masculine gender affects sex differences in the prevalence of chronic health problemsPreventive medicine reports · 2023Article
- The burden of ocular morbidities among elderly patients visiting a district healthcare facility in Malawi: A retrospective study.Health science reports · 2023Article
- Stakeholder dialogue on dilemmas at work as a workplace health promotion intervention including employees with a low SEP: a Responsive Evaluation.BMC public health · 2022Article
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- For Exercise, Relaxation, or Spirituality: Exploring Participation Motives and Conformity to Masculine Norms among Male and Female Yoga Participants.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
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- Social connectedness and health risk behaviours among in-school adolescents in urban and rural areas of Oyo State, Nigeria.Journal of preventive medicine and hygiene · 2021Article
- Using Co-Production to Develop "Sit Less at Work" Interventions in a Range of Organisations.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Accessing Voluntary HIV Testing in the Construction Industry: A Qualitative Analysis of Employee Interviews from the Test@Work Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Men's sheds as an alternative healthcare route? A qualitative study of the impact of Men's sheds on user's health improvement behaviours.BMC public health · 2021Article
- Adapting Citizen Science to Improve Health in an Occupational Setting: Preliminary Results of a Qualitative Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBeing female is a strong predictor of health promoting behaviours. Workplaces show great potential for lifestyle interventions, but such interventions do not necessarily take the gendered background of lifestyle behaviours into account. A perspective analyzing how masculine gender norms affect health promoting behaviours is important. This study aims to explore men's health beliefs and attitudes towards health promotion; in particular, it explores workplace physical activity in relation to masculine ideals among male employees.
methodsIn the Fall of 2008, we interviewed 13 white Dutch male employees aged 23-56 years. The men worked in a wide range of professions and occupational sectors and all interviewees had been offered a workplace physical activity program. Interviews lasted approximately one to one-and-a-half hour and addressed beliefs about health and lifestyle behaviours including workplace physical activity, as well as normative beliefs about masculinity. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.
resultsTwo normative themes were found: first, the ideal man is equated with being a winner and real men are prepared to compete, and second, real men are not whiners and ideally, not vulnerable. Workplace physical activity is associated with a particular type of masculinity - young, occupied with looks, and interested in muscle building. Masculine norms are related to challenging health while taking care of health is feminine and, hence, something to avoid. Workplace physical activity is not framed as a health measure, and not mentioned as of importance to the work role.
conclusionsCompetitiveness and nonchalant attitudes towards health shape masculine ideals. In regards to workplace physical activity, some men resist what they perceive to be an emphasis on muscled looks, whereas for others it contributes to looking self-confident. In order to establish a greater reach among vulnerable employees such as ageing men, worksite health promotion programs including workplace physical activity may benefit from greater insight in the tensions between health behaviours and masculinity.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.