This is huge. Science confirms what women have long suspected.

According to the print edition of The Week,

Researchers at Cornell University tested the effect of insecurity on men’s attitudes by giving a survey on gender identity to about 50 men. The men were then told that an analysis of the survey showed that they exhibited “weak” male characteristics – indeed, that their attitudes were effeminate. The researchers then surveyed the men’s attitudes toward politics, homosexuals, and car purchases, comparing them with a group of men whose masculinity had not been questioned. The threatened men were more likely to support the war in Iraq, more likely to oppose gay marriage and denounce gays, and more likely to express a desire to buy an SUV… “Masculinity-threatened men also reported feeling more ashamed, guilty, upset, and hostile,” says lead researcher Robb Willer.

So Arnold was really on to something with that “girlie men” remark.

In case you were wondering:

Women, the study found, did not change their attitudes when they were told their attitudes were masculine.

Connect: