Threats to masculinity provoke gun use: An experimental study using a firearm training simulator.

Men commit 86% of all gun-related homicides in the United States. Increased rates of gun violence among men have been partly explained by a precarious manhood model, suggesting that men are prone to react with physical aggression following a gender status threat. The aim of this study was to test if high conformity to masculine norms and/or a gender status threat would elicit increased gun violence-related behaviors. Using a police training simulator, the present study tested whether conformity to masculine norms interacts with a masculinity threat manipulation in predicting increased and faster use of a replica Glock firearm during potentially dangerous simulated scenarios. As predicted, high conformity to masculine norms in the context of threat to masculinity predicted both increased and quicker firearm use in a sample of 90 heterosexual, cisgendered men in the United States. Results of this study point to a potential mechanism that may help explain gun violence among men.