The social psychological predictors of men’s backlash responses to the #MeToo movement

Abstract

Although the #MeToo movement embarked on addressing sexual harassment, it also addressed gender inequality in various domains and demanded a change in the status quo to achieve greater gender equality. Many men around the globe joined the #MeToo movement and supported it. However, the movement also experienced significant backlash. Across a preliminary study and two studies (N = 667), we examined the gender-based social psychological motivations underlying men’s willingness to take peaceful and violent collective action (a) against the #MeToo movement and (b) promoting men’s movement. In particular, we examined the gender-based attitudinal (i.e., collective responsibility, zero-sum beliefs), ideological (i.e., male entitlement), and emotional (i.e., collective humiliation) antecedents of willingness to engage in different forms of collective action. We also tested whether humiliation is the most proximal predictor of action. Our results highlighted the importance of male entitlement, zero-sum beliefs, and collective responsibility in motivating men to engage in peaceful and violent action, and indirectly affecting both forms of collective action through collective humiliation. We discuss the implications of these findings and suggest future directions for discrimination prevention and gender equality.