DescriptionThe current study aimed to determine if the socially constructed nature of manhood leads men to experience a pattern of cardiovascular reactivity that has been identified as a threat (versus challenge) response when asked to speak about a time they felt their masculinity was being questioned. To test this, men had their cardiovascular system monitored using electrocardiogram (EKG), impedance cardiography (IC), and blood pressure (BP) measurements. During monitoring, participants were assigned randomly to recall a time when they felt like less of a man (i.e., gender-relevant condition) or to describe their typical day (i.e., neutral condition). Then participants completed measures of precarious manhood beliefs (PMB) and gender identity (GI). When men talked about a time they felt like less of a man, they were expected to show a primarily vascular cardiovascular pattern, indicative of threat, rather than a primarily myocardial pattern typically associated with challenge. This effect was expected to be more pronounced among men who highly endorse PMB and strongly identify with their gender. However, PMB interacted with speaking topic to reveal that men high in PMB, compared to men low in PMB, showed a greater challenge pattern when speaking about an event in which they felt like less of a man. These results lend support for the proposition that gender-related stress contributes to the sex differences found in cardiovascular reactivity, disease rates, and mortality. By understanding the interaction of gendered beliefs, gender identity, and gender threats, health and wellbeing may be improved.