Big boys don’t cry: An investigation of stoicism and its mental health outcomes

Two mail-out survey studies were conducted to investigate the stoicism construct, as operationalised in the Liverpool stoicism scale (LSS). In Study 1, N = 467 participants (57.9% female) completed the LSS and measures of wellbeing, psychological distress and attitudes to seeking psychological help. All participants had previously completed a measure of the five factor model of personality (FFM). The aim of Study 2 (N = 567, 57.5% female) was to replicate the psychometric analyses of the LSS, and permit calculation of test–retest reliability amongst a subsample (n = 278) who also participated in Study 1. The LSS was found to have adequate internal reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = .83), and adequate test–retest reliability (r = .82, p < .001). As expected, LSS scores were significantly higher for males (M = 59.5, SD = 7.8) than females (M = 51.1, SD = 9.0, t(411) = 10.20, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 1.00). Structural equation modeling demonstrated the expected association between stoicism and gender (factor loading = −.38), openness to experience (factor loading = −.38), and age (factor loading = .11). Stoicism was found unrelated to measures of distress, and was negatively associated with quality of life (r = −.13, p < .01). Moreover, the relationship between stoicism and lower quality of life was found to be mediated by negative attitudes to seeking psychological help. It is concluded that the LSS is a reliable measure of a unidimensional stoicism construct, which has intelligible relationships with the FFM and potential explanatory power in relation to men’s mental health.