Date of Award

2011

Degree Type

Open Access Thesis

Document Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Jonathan S. Gore

Department Affiliation

Psychology

Abstract

Gender differences in willingness to seek help were examined in this study. Males often appear to not seek help from others, especially from a professional, like a psychologist. The current study will look at several factors that may prevent males from seeking help. First, males may be unaware of their problems as whole, specifically emotional and relational problems. Next, males often are afraid or unable to open up because they do not think in "emotions." Lastly, males are afraid to appear weak in order to keep their masculine appearance. In this study, participants read several scenarios and determined whether they felt the person in the scenario should seek help. Results were examined to determine when participants felt it was necessary to seek help. Results showed that males were more likely when to suggest working things out on their own. Females were more likely to suggest seeking help from a psychologist. Future research should examine why this difference between males and females exist.

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