Abstract
Previous scholarship shows that cisgender women are more likely to have confidants than cisgender men and that the latter are more likely to have confidants outside the family and keep spheres (e.g., friends versus family) separate. Growing evidence shows these confidant patterns shift in older age. A common though untested explanation for these patterns is that gender ideologies preconfigure how people seek confidants. We address the lack of direct tests by analyzing a cohort of 5487 U.S. older women and men from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Survey, which administered the Hegemonic Masculinity for Older Men Scale. We find that men have significantly lower odds than women do of having any confidant and of having both friends and family members as confidants. Among men, greater endorsement of hegemonic masculinity significantly lowered both odds. Of those with only one confidant type, women were more likely than men to nominate a family member over a friend. Among men, their endorsement of hegemonic masculinity was unrelated to their likelihood of nominating a family member over a friend. Findings show support for, but also the limitations of, assuming gender ideology explains confidant patterns. Future scholarship can work toward addressing how hegemonic masculinity inhibits social relations, particularly in older age.