Bridging The Gap Between Social Constructs & Culture: The Masculinity & Mental Health of Young Adult Arab Men

Abstract

Background: Mental health and masculinity are not discussed within the young adult Arab male community. For some families, it may be a taboo topic. The suppression of mental health conversations may impact a community. Young adult Arab men need mental health help but do not venture out to seek help to stay within the cultural norms. Objective: This study aims to research and explore the masculinity and mental health of young adult Arab men. More specifically, it seeks to search whether masculinity does affect mental health. It further focuses on the factors that go into the correlation between mental health and masculinity. Due to a lack of conversation about mental health in young adult Arab men's households, this study is set to find out if young mature Arab men can talk about their mental health with their immediate family. Design and Method: This study is qualitative and descriptive in its design. Two phases were conducted to execute the design of this study. Phase I was a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed articles, journals, popular news articles, podcasts, reports, and blogs. The research found literature dating the years from 1998 to 2022. Phase II includes an ethnographic piece of a young adult Arab man's birthday party. The main research questions are: Does masculinity impact young adult Arab men's mental health? Can young adult Arab men discuss mental health issues with their immediate family and relatives? What factors can be considered when correlating mental health and masculinity in young adult Arab men? Results: The main findings of the literature showed that masculinity does impact the mental health of young adult Arab men. Conclusions: Social constructs such as masculinity and mental health connect with culture. Nonetheless, after thoroughly studying young adult Arab men, masculinity, and mental health, it seems to be topics that are not normalized, nor discussed, which brings about the correlation between mental health and masculinity. Therefore, this study concludes that masculinity can impact mental health in the young adult Arab men community. It further concludes that there is a connection between social constructs and culture. Keywords: Masculinity, Mental Health, Arabs, Men, Culture, Muslims, Young Adult