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The media have been widely criticized for promoting unhealthy images of masculinity. To better understand how men are portrayed on television, we analyzed male characters' self-disclosures on television. From the 11 most highly rated situation comedies, 1,320 min of programming were examined, in which 328 incidents of self-disclosure were identified. Results indicated that male characters disclosed an average of once every 4.08 min (5.96 times per 24-min episode), disclosed more often to male than to female characters, and expressed negative emotions more frequently to male than to female characters. Male characters self-disclosed freely and comfortably, and they were moderately emotionally expressive and personally revealing. They typically received somewhat favorable responses from others to their disclosures. However, the demographic characteristics of the characters failed to represent the diversity of U.S. society. Potential implications for television and society are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested.

As noted by U.S. Surgeon General (Satcher, 2001), the media often exert a negative influence on boys' and men's behavior. Cultivation theory posits that television creates a vision of the world that becomes television viewers' perception of reality (Gerbner, 1999; Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorielli, 1980,1986). Kimmel (1987) concurred and stated that "images of gender in the media become texts on normative behavior, one of the many cultural shards we use to construct notions of masculinity" (p. 20). In essence, television provides models of appropriate roles and behaviors for living in society, and the images of men the media present have "the potential to influence millions of people" (Spangler, 1992, p. 95).

It is not surprising that both the U.S. Surgeon General (Satcher, 2001) and men's studies scholars (e.g., Craig, 1992; Kimmel, 1987) have called for the media to provide healthier images of men. Specifically, in contrast to the stoic "strong, silent type" of man that is often idealized in the media, images of men who are comfortable communicating their feelings have been called for (e.g., Good, 1998; Levant, 1995; Pollack, 1998). These newer images are needed to help provide boys and men with role models that portray behavior different from, and healthier than, what researchers typically find among North American males.

Gender scholars have reported that many men restrict their expression of feelings and are reluctant to be known by others (e.g., O'Neil, 1981; Pleck, Sonenstein, & Ku, 1993; Pollack, 2001). Further, research findings indicate that men's restriction of emotions and reluctance to disclose are associated with numerous adverse effects, such as the use of primitive psychological defenses (Mahalik et al., 1998), depression (Cochran & Rabinowitz, 2000; Good et al., 1996), substance abuse (Blazina & Watkins, 1996), health concerns (Courtenay, 2001; Good, Sherrod, & Dillon, 2000; Sue, 2000), violence (Long, 1987; Mahalik, 2000; Pollack, 1998), and reluctance to seek psychological assistance (Good & Wood, 1995; Komiya, Good, & Sherrod, 2000; Robertson & Fitzgerald, 1992).

Although social scientists have reported relations between adherence to traditional masculine roles (e.g., restricted emotionality) and negative psychological health, and although healthier male images in the media have been called for, there is surprisingly little research about how men are actually portrayed in the media. In other words, there is a lack of research to document whether media images are actually promoting traditional masculine gender roles. In one informal analysis of "male-oriented" shows (e.g., the A-Team and Magnum, PI), Fiske (1987) observed that "masculine narratives tends to deal more with singular goals and achievements, [whereas] feminine narratives [deal] more with people and relationships" (p. 213). Fiske's analysis concluded that bonds among the coheroes were "goal-oriented, not relationshiporiented. The relationship is there to serve a common goal, not the needs of the relationship itself; it depends on action not on feelings" (p. 213). In essence, the value of sharing and connecting with others was not depicted as "internalized into a basic need of the male" (p. 213).

A similar conclusion was reached by Spangler (1992), who analyzed four decades of prime time television programs. Spangler acknowledged that television has provided a few examples of strong male friendships (e.g., Sheriff Andy Taylor and Deputy Barney Fife of The Andy Griffith Show, Hawkeye and Trapper John of M*A*S*H). However, she concluded that "most programs have demonstrated bonding rather than emotional disclosure" (p. 109). In other words, over the past 40 years, two informal analyses suggested that most prime time television shows have portrayed men who do not discuss or disclose information about themselves at an emotional level.

Despite these informal analyses of the depiction of men's relationships and communication on television, no researchers have specifically examined men's self-disclosure or the responses that men receive from others to their disclosures. Hence, in this study we sought to correct this dearth of research about the messages and role models television provides to viewers about men's self-disclosure. Although an examination of men's disclosures on multiple types of television genres are eventually needed, we chose to focus this first study on contemporary situation comedies (sitcoms) because of their large viewing audience. Approximately 4 million people per episode view sitcoms with low Nielsen ratings, whereas approximately 17 million viewers per episode watch the highly rated sitcoms. Sitcoms have been found to portray relatively less satisfied and less stable families (Olson & Douglas, 1997) and males who tend to make derogatory remarks about heavier women's bodies (Fouts & Burggraf, 2000). Given this, we speculated that sitcom characters would make similarly derogatory remarks about men who violated North American masculine gender roles through their self-disclosures to other characters.

We sought data about the following questions about male characters and how their self-disclosures are portrayed in situation comedies. How frequently do male characters self-disclose? How personally revealing is their self-disclosure? How emotionally expressive is their self-disclosure? How comfortable do they appear when they are self-disclosing? To what extent is their self-disclosure freely offered? What type of reaction do they receive from others when they disclose? What are the dominant types of emotions portrayed when they disclose? In addition, we also examined how well the demographic characteristics of male characters in sitcoms reflect the diversity of men in North America. From these findings, we hope to understand better the images of men's selfdisclosure cultivated by prime time television situation comedies.

METHOD

Selection of Television Programs

The 11 most popular situation comedies with male leading characters were the focus of this study. Specifically, programs that received the highest Nielsen rankings early in the Fall 1998 season (during the week of September 21-27) were selected (Dharma and Greg, Drew Carey, Frasier, Friends, Home Improvement, Just Shoot Me, Mad About You, Secret Lives of Men, Spin City, The Hughleys, and Will and Grace). Five episodes of each program were randomly selected for recording between October and December 1998. This produced a total of 1,650 min of recorded programming. After deleting 330 min of commercials (6 min of commercials per 30-min show), we had a total of 1,320 min of programming for subsequent analysis.

Raters and Data Synthesis

For purposes of this study, self-disclosure was operationalized as each instance in which a male character made a self-referential statement about himself to another character. Specifically, characters typically said "I" and then revealed something personally relevant-such as their thoughts, feelings, emotions, or experiences-to another character.

The researchers carefully trained two upper-level undergraduate psychology students who had previous successful experience as research assistants. These two raters received approximately 12 hr of intense training from two professors (in the fields of communication and psychology) during which sample episodes were analyzed, discussed, and feedback was provided to ensure the quality and consistency of ratings. The two raters subsequently independently analyzed all 1,320 min of videotape for incidents of selfdisclosure by male characters. Using a 5-point scale, they rated each incident as follows:

(a) Personally Revealing: the degree that the content of the self-disclosure was personally revealing, on a scale that ranged from 1 (very little personal information revealed) to 5 (a great amount of personal information was revealed).

(b) Emotional Expression: the degree of emotions displayed during the self-disclosure, on a scale that ranged from 1 (very little emotion expressed) to 5 (a great amount of emotion expressed).

(c) Comfort Disclosing: the degree of comfort displayed by the self-discloses while disclosing, on a scale that ranged from 1 (appeared very uncomfortable during self-disclosure) to 5 (appeared very comfortable during selfdisclosure).

(d) Disclosing Freely: the degree that the disclosure was freely offered by the discloses, on a scale that ranged from 1 (reluctant to disclose, disclosure did not come freely) to 5 (spontaneously disclosing, the disclosure came freely).

(e) Reactions from Others: the degree that the reaction received by the discloses from others was negative or positive, on a scale that ranged from 1 (negative reaction) to 5 (positive, approving reaction).

Raters also noted the global nature of emotions male characters expressed in each incident of self-disclosure (i.e., negative, neutral, or positive). Negative emotions (which might also be viewed as "painful" or "vulnerable" emotions) included expressions of anger, hostility, embarrassment, fear, hurt, disappointment, sadness, grief, despair, irritation, anxiety, stress, and sarcasm. Positive emotions included expressions of love, appreciation, happiness, excitement, and affection. Disclosures scored as neutral had little (or less classifiable) emotional content.

For each of the five continuous variables, interrater reliability with interval data was estimated using Pearson correlation coefficients as recommended by Anastasi and Urbina (1997) and Cohen and Swerdlik (1999). Acceptable levels of interrater reliability were obtained for all five continuous variables; correlations between the two raters were .80 for Personally Revealing, .77 for Emotional Expression, .74 for Comfort Disclosing, .81 for Disclosing Freely, and .75 for Reactions from Others. The average of each pair of independent ratings provided by the raters for the 328 incidents of self-disclosure were used in subsequent analyses.

RESULTS

Demographics of the Television Characters

Thirty-two male characters regularly appeared on the 11 series. Three characters (9%, all in Friends) were 18-29-years-old, 24 (75%) of the characters were 30-49-years-old, and 5 characters (16%) were 50+ years old. Ethnic minority male characters appeared in only one series (2,6%, all in The Hughleys), gay characters appeared in two of the series (2, 6%, Spin City and Will and Grace), and all the rest were portrayed as heterosexual. Most of the male characters were single or divorced (21, 66%), and the rest were married or widowed (11, 34%). All characters were either successfully employed or retired.

Extent and Nature of Self-Disclosures

The raters identified a total of 328 incidents of males' self-disclosure during 24-min shows (after 6 min of commercials per show were deleted). As shown in Table I, the mean number of self-disclosures per episode by male characters was 5.96. This represents an average disclosure rate by a male character of once every 4.02 min. Mean rates of self-disclosure by male characters ranged from 2.40 (Dharma and Greg) to 15.20 (Secret Lives of Men) per show. The proportion of disclosures to male versus female characters was 61%, which indicates that self-disclosure was somewhat more likely to be directed to another male character than to a female character. This proportion ranged from 25% for Dharma and Greg to 91 % for Secret Lives of Men.

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For the Personally Revealing variable, the overall mean was 3.08 (SD = 1.14), which indicates that male characters' self-disclosures tended to be moderately personally revealing (see Table II). Disclosures on Frasier were least personally revealing (M = 2.42, SD = 1.15), whereas those on Dharma and Greg were most personally revealing (M = 3.67, SD = 1.01). A comparison of Personally Revealing scores for disclosures to male versus female characters indicated a significant difference for two series (Home Improvement and Secret Lives of Men; p < .05). In both cases, male characters revealed more personally intimate information when disclosing to females than to males.

For the Comfort Disclosing variable, the overall mean was a 4.65 (SD = 0.68), which indicates that male characters appeared highly comfortable while self-disclosing. Characters on Dharma and Greg had the lowest comfort level score (M = 3.96; SD = 1.32), whereas characters on The Hughleys (M = 4.89; SD = 0.26) and Just Shoot Me (M = 4.89; SD = 0.21) displayed the greatest comfort when self-- disclosing. A significant difference was observed for two series when comfort levels for disclosures to males were compared with those to females. Specifically, in both The Hughleys and Drew Carey the males exhibited greater comfort when disclosing to other men than they did when disclosing to women.

For the Emotional Expression variable, the overall mean was 2.92 (SD = 1.02), which indicates a moderate level of emotional expression when disclosing. Male characters on Dharma and Greg expressed the least amount of emotions while disclosing (M = 2.38, SD = 0.77), whereas characters on Just Shoot Me expressed emotions the most while disclosing (M = 3.54, SD = 1.01). No differences were observed between the average degree of emotional expression during self-disclosures to male or female characters.

For the Freely Disclosing ratings, the overall mean was 4.72 (SD = 0.71), which indicates a high level of spontaneous, free self-disclosure. Characters on Dharma and Greg displayed the least free disclosure (M = 3.63, SD = 1.23), whereas characters on The Hughleys indicated the most free disclosure (M = 4.98; SD = 0.10). Only one series was found to have a significant difference in the extent to which male characters disclosed more freely to either male or female characters. Specifically, male characters in Will and Grace disclosed more freely to other males than to female characters.

For the Reaction from Others variable, the overall mean was 3.21 (SD = 1.24), which indicates that, on average, male characters' self-disclosures received somewhat positive reactions from others. Male characters on Frasier received the least favorable responses (M = 2.89, SD = 1.39), whereas male characters on Dharma and Greg received the most favorable responses (M = 3.83, SD = 1.29). Male characters on Drew Carey, Friends, and Just Shoot Me had significantly more approving responses from other men than from women. Conversely, male characters on The Hughleys and Spin City had significantly more approving responses from women than from other men.

Raters also recorded the nature of the emotions men expressed in each self-disclosure (i.e., negative, positive, or neutral emotions). The majority (53%) of emotions that male characters expressed were negative, one third (31 %) were positive, and a smaller percentage (17%) were neutral. Male characters were found to have expressed significantly more negative emotions to other males (68%) than to females (27%). Men expressed positive emotions approximately equally to females (47%) and males (46%). Men expressed twice as many neutral emotions to other males (68%) as to females (30%).

Three-Year Demographic Characteristics Follow-Up

Three seasons later (Fall 2001), 7 of the original 11 situation comedies continued to be broadcast (i.e., Home Improvement, Mad About You, Secret Lives of Men, and The Hughleys were discontinued). Four new situation comedies from the Fall 2001 season (Becker, Everybody Loves Raymond, Scrubs, and Schwartz) were added to correspond to the original 11 most highly rated situation comedies; the 2001 season featured 32 leading male characters. Seven (22%) of the characters were 18-29-years-old, 20 (63%) of the characters were 30-49-years-old, and 5 (16%) of the characters were 50+ years old. Twenty-nine (91 %) White and three (9%) ethnic minority male characters (all African American) regularly appeared. Twentynine (91%) of male characters were portrayed as exclusively heterosexual, and three (9%) as gay men. Twenty-two (69%) of the male characters were single or divorced, and 10 (31%) were married.

DISCUSSION

Cultivation theory posits that the media are powerful influences in providing images of normative behavior. Because of their power, the media have been criticized for providing negative images and role models. One criticism directed at the media is for its promotion of damaging conceptions of masculinity, such as restricted emotional expression. Indeed, previous informal analyses suggest that television cultivates this aspect of masculinity via images of men who are not relationally oriented and who do not disclose emotionally (Fiske, 1987; Spangler, 1982). Nonetheless, no formal research on men's self-disclosure on television had been conducted and thus, this study is the first to investigate how self-disclosure by male characters is being portrayed in popular prime time television comedies. Three hundred and twenty-eight incidents of self-disclosure by male characters occurred in 1,320 min of programming. It is surprising that our results indicate that male characters in contemporary television situation comedies are indeed self-disclosing; they disclosed approximately once every 4 min during the shows.

Demographics of Male Characters

Demographic characteristics of the male characters in the Fall 1998 situation comedies indicate that the characters failed to reflect the diversity of U.S. citizens. Of the 32 male characters who regularly appeared on these series, only 9% (all in Friends) were 18-29-years-old, 75% were 30-49-years-old, and only 16% were 50 or more years old. Of concern is that only 6% of male characters were ethnic minorities. Only two African American characters appeared in any of these series, and both appeared in The Hughleys. Similarly, only 6% of male characters were portrayed as not being exclusively heterosexual; a gay character appeared in only two of the series. In terms of their marital/partner status, most (66%) of the male characters were portrayed as either single or divorced; 34% were married or widowed. Virtually all of the characters were portrayed as being successfully employed or retired, which definitely does not reflect the struggles many men experience with their employment.

In the Fall 2001 season, 22% of the male characters were 18-29-years-old, 63% were 30-49-yearsold, and 16% were 50 or more years old. Nine percent of the characters where ethnic minorities (all African American); the remaining 91 % were White. Nine percent of the characters were gay, and the remaining 91 % were portrayed as exclusively heterosexual. The majority (69%) of male characters were single or divorced; only 31 % were married. As before, all were successfully employed or retired.

In comparing across the years (from 1998-2001), we found that the proportion of men in young adulthood (18-29) increased from 9 to 22%. However, men who are 50 years of age or older remained underrepresented on sitcoms. In terms of sexual orientation, the number of nonexclusively heterosexual male characters improved from 6% in 1998 to 9% in 2001, which more closely reflects their proportion in the population. In terms of ethnic diversity, only 6% of male characters where ethnic minorities in 1988; this improved slightly to 9% (all African American) in 2001.

Because only European American and African American men were portrayed, other men of color (e.g., Hispanic/Latino, Asian American, Native American) remained completely unrepresented by this television genre. An important criticism that can be gleaned from this demographic data is that the portrayal of men of color by this television genre ranges from absent to very limited. This likely contributes to the feelings of being "invisible" and "marginalized" that are often experienced by men of color in North America (e.g., Sue, 2001; Wynter, 1993).

Self-Disclosure by Male Characters

Male characters were found to disclose an average of 5.96 times per show, approximately once every 4 min. In 7 of the 11 series, male characters were portrayed as disclosing more frequently to female than to male characters. Nonetheless, averaging across all shows, male characters disclosed almost twice as often to other male characters as compared to female characters (3.63 vs. 2.03 times per show). However, the series in which male characters disclosed much more frequently than any other series, and in which male characters disclosed most frequently to other males, was the first series to be cancelled. Specifically, the male characters in Secret Lives of Men disclosed an average of 15.20 times per episode (as compared to the overall average of 5.96), and disclosed to other male characters 91 % of the time (as compared to an overall average of 61%). This series did not survive its initial season, perhaps in part due to its portrayal of men violating social expectations.

As we examined the characteristics of male characters' self-disclosure in closer detail, we found that male characters tended to be moderately personally revealing in their disclosures. In two shows (Home Improvement and Secret Lives of Men), male characters were significantly more personally revealing in their disclosures to women than to other men. No series portrayed men being more personally disclosing to other men than to women. This television portrayal coincides with current theorists (e.g., Johnson, 2001) who have noted that many (heterosexual) men are more comfortable disclosing their personal concerns to women than to other men. Male characters were found to be moderately emotionally expressive as they disclosed. No differences were observed for the degree that men were expressive of emotions when disclosing to men or women. Male characters also self-disclosed quite comfortably and freely. Only one series portrayed male characters as disclosing more freely to one sex than the other; Will and Grace portrayed males disclosing more freely to other males than to females.

The majority of emotions male characters expressed were "negative." Indeed, 53 % of the emotions men expressed were negative, such as anger, hostility, embarrassment, and anxiety. About one-third (31%) of the emotions they displayed were "positive," such as love, appreciation, excitement, and affection. Approximately one-fifth (17%) of the emotions they expressed were neutral (i.e., neutral statements tended to reflect factual information more than emotional reactions to an event or statement). Examples of statements coded as neutral included Fraiser telling his father: "Dad, I'm sorry I've been so tense lately-being out of work" and a character in Spin City telling another: "Unlike you, I keep my feelings to myself." These statements did not appear to convey either strong positive or negative emotions, and hence were coded as neutral.

In terms of differences in emotions that men expressed to other males or to females, men expressed more than twice as many negative emotions to other males, more than twice as many neutral emotions, and approximately equal amounts of positive emotions to men and to women. This portrayal is consistent with the observation in the psychological literature that many men tend to "funnel" their unacceptable vulnerable emotions into expressions of anger (Fischer & Good, 1997; Levant, 1995; Long, 1987; Mahalik, 2000; Meth, 1990).

The responses that male characters' self-- disclosures earned from others were of particular interest in this study. Given the wealth of data that indicate that restricted emotional expression is a central aspect of traditional masculine gender roles in North America (e.g., Brannon, 1976; Eisler, 1995; Levant, 2001, 1998; O'Neil, Good, & Holmes, 1995; Thompson & Pleck, 1995), coupled with data that indicates that sitcoms portray men making derogatory remarks about larger women's bodies (i.e., promoting the weight and body image concerns associated with traditional feminine gender roles in North America; Fouts & Burggraf, 2000), it was speculated that men would be ridiculed and humiliated when they violated masculine gender role norms by self-disclosing to others. It was surprising that the findings of the study did not support this hypothesis. Although men's self-disclosures received a variety of responses from others, the average response was somewhat favorable (i.e., more favorable than "neutral"). Indeed, 9 of the 11 series (82%) showed average responses from others that were more favorable than "neutral." Only two series (18 %) showed average responses from others that were (slightly) less than neutral (Fraiser and Secret Lives of Men). It thus appears that the contemporary sitcom genre cultivates the message that "guy talk" includes self-disclose, and that men will not typically experience ridicule or shaming responses from others to their disclosures.

Implications

Theorists and researchers have observed that boys and men in North America often restrict their emotions in accordance with the "strong, silent type" masculine ideal and that this restriction is associated with increased risk for depression, alienation, violence, and substance abuse. Related to this, national health experts have implicated the popular media as promulgating damaging gender-related messages. Given this, our initial speculation was that television characters would make derogatory remarks about men who became vulnerable through their sharing with others. However, the results of this study indicate that the sitcom genre is not promoting the particularly problematic societal message that men do not self-disclose, nor are they suggesting that men will be shamed by others if they self-disclose. Indeed, although male characters in these series were portrayed as receiving a variety of responses from others to their self-disclosures, typical responses from others were somewhat favorable.

Future researchers might seek to explore additional aspects of male characters' self-disclosure, the media, and how they contribute to normative messages about men's behavior. For example, the frequency and nature of men's disclosure of various types of emotions (e.g., painful, vulnerable, aggressive, and caring/connection) could be explored in greater depth. Further, the extent that male characters on sitcoms serve as models for boys' and men could be examined. Additionally researchers might seek to identify the "most respected" male characters in the media, and subsequently analyze the frequency and nature of their self-disclosures.

Although it is often convenient to blame the mass media for many social ills, it does not appear that the prime time television sitcom genre should be blamed for difficulties many U.S. men experience with disclosing their reactions to others. Given these results, new questions emerge that warrant the attention of gender studies scholars. Specifically, if current prime time television situation comedies are not promoting undesirable messages about the inadvisability of males' self-disclosure, which television genres and societal influences are transmitting these beliefs to boys and men?

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We express our appreciation to Lisa D. Moore and Heather L. Leffler for their invaluable assistance as data coders.