Sheriyar Hyderali
In American culture, breadwinning and work identity are among the most important masculinity norms. These norms are particularly strongly endorsed by men of older cohorts who have been major breadwinners and providers and have defined themselves in terms of their work for most of their lives. I focus on how cancer effects men’s financial status and earnings, and how these changes affect their mental health status. Based on the existing scholarship I hypothesize that a new cancer diagnosis will decrease men’s mental health well-being. I also hypothesize that cancer-related changes in earnings, assets, and retirement will be more consequential for men’s than women’s mental health because breadwinning prowess and work identity are far more central to the dominant ideals of masculinity than femininity, especially in the older cohorts in the U.S. To test these hypotheses, I use the Health and Retirement Study, a national longitudinal data set of over 10,000 participants collected between 1992 and 2016. Overall, the results strongly support my hypothesis, with men having significant changes in multiple variables. Moreover, the variables earnings, hours worked, and debt were significantly on the effect of retirement among men. At the end, I discuss how my findings are relevant to health policy.
Comments
Very well done Sheriyar! Your topic brings up an interesting perspective to illness that I hadn’t considered much. This is important work! —Rhylee Lionberger
Thank you Rhylee, I appreciate you taking the time to tell me so! —Sheriyar Hyderali
What an interesting topic Sheriyar! Really well done! —Saher Ahmad
Thank you Saher! I appreciate it! —Sheriyar Hyderali
Very nice poster, as you mention below looking at how this relationship may vary by intersectional identities is important, how may social norms also play a role? —Keryn Pasch
Thank you Dr. Pasch. Did you have any specific social norm(s) in mind? —Sheriyar Hyderali
I was thinking gender-related social norms, similar to breadwinning, but thinking more broadly as well and how that may vary by culture. —Keryn Pasch
Okay I think I understand. Yeah this paper comes from my honor thesis and in the literature review I discuss the attachment of breadwinning to masculinity. There are many dimensions to it, like perceptions of wage-earnings, the work identity itself, fulfilling the provider role adequately (to whatever standard that may be), and the anxiety and/or fear of not living up to that. This research paper takes that into account, but it seems like I left that out of the poster – it is difficult to condense of that information on a poster). As for culture, I am sure this could differ within different communities, maybe even across geographic location (urban vs rural, or other cultural forces) and countries too. Perhaps more egalitarian countries would yield different results? Or maybe those with stronger social safety nets for those who are disabled, medical patients, unemployment policies? It is always interesting to think about how you can tweak studies to investigate different factors and/or influences. —Sheriyar Hyderali
It is evident a lot of work went into this research. It is very well presented and effectively informative. You mentioned the need for mental healthcare policy for those with cancer. I wonder what that might look like and if you found any examples in your research? —Monique Cooper
Thank you Monique! I couldn’t find any myself, but I am sure they exist – perhaps state by state, or something covered in insurance policies. If it is through occupation, it could differ employer to employer. I do think mentioning some existing ones would strengthen the argument though. I personally think that policies from employers or states, or other large institutions could be effective because of their ability to target at a population level. Something as reduced costs for seeing mental health professionals or the like would be beneficial for dealing with stress caused by financial burden, along with helping one work through their personal issues around their identity with work and wage-earning. —Sheriyar Hyderali
The research done by Sheriyar is outstanding. This study goes very in depth and is very informative. —Saahil
Thank you Saahil, I appreciate the kind comments! —Sheriyar Hyderali
Thanks for sharing this work. If you were to continue researching this topic, what would be a good area for future investigation? —Rob Reichle
My project lacks intersectionality, so looking at different races/ethnicities, orientations, socioeconomic classes, and different generations could yield different results. While the breadwinner ideal is globally prevalent for men, it would be interesting to see how the changes in financial variables differ across the markers/identities I mentioned earlier. —Sheriyar Hyderali