New findings have shown that men who want to be “macho” are putting their health at risk as they are less likely to visit the doctor. Researchers from the State University of New Jersey have shown that men who believe in traditional ideas about masculinity are half as likely to get routine medical checks.

Kirsten W. Springer launched the study to see whether ideas about manhood affect the choices men make about their healthcare. She defined masculinity as a “stereotypical, old-school, John-Wayne-and-Sylvester Stallone approach to life.”

Examining surveys taken in 2004 of 1,000 white, middle-aged men, she looked at their responses to questions about their masculinity and then questions about whether they had gone for recommended annual check-ups, prostate checks and flu vaccinations.

The researchers discovered that the highest believers in masculine standards were 50% less likely to get the check-ups they were meant to compared to those who valued traditional masculinity less.  The researchers had to make allowances for the high number of married participants.

However there was one exception to this trend – blue collar workers, or working class men likely to work as manual labourers for an hourly wage.

The researchers have admitted that the study was limited, as all participants were white, educated and the high number of married men meant they did not know how big a part a spouse’s nagging played in encouraging men to visit the doctor.

However they said that they believe men’s health could be improved if the idea that masculinity is about being invulnerable and  impervious to pain could be dismantled.