Is it real or just for show? Construction and validation of a questionnaire for the assessment of egalitarian masculinities (QAEM-27)

Abstract

In recent years, there has been significant interest in studying masculinities in relation to the advancements of feminism. However, there are currently no measurement instruments available to assess the extent to which men hold egalitarian attitudes and practices concerning gender equality. Consequently, it is imperative to conduct research on masculinities and gender equality to evaluate the efficacy of interventions designed to cultivate egalitarian attitudes and behaviors among men. Hence, this study aims to develop and authenticate a questionnaire, namely the Questionnaire for Assessing Egalitarian Masculinities (QAEM-27), that can effectively measure such progress. The sample consisted of 195 adult Spanish men with an average age of 40 years. After conducting a sequence of exploratory factor analyses, we suggest a definitive questionnaire consisting of 27 items that are categorized into six distinct dimensions: (1) Awareness of sexism, (2) Co-responsibility, (3) Pro-egalitarian practices, (4) Non-exercise of violence, (5) Male privileges, and (6) Egalitarian relationships. The reliability coefficients of these dimensions were deemed satisfactory, as evidenced by Cronbach’s alpha (0.72 to 0.92) and McDonalds’ Omega (0.74 to 0.92). Additionally, the Average Extraction Variance analyses conducted support the proposed scale’s reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. These findings suggest that this questionnaire is a valuable tool for researching egalitarian masculinities in both academic and practical settings, thereby advancing our understanding of this field of study.

Keywords

• egalitarian masculinities
• questionnaire
• psychometric evaluation
• gender equality