This is combined with a stigmatization of behaviors held as signs of same-sex attraction in men, and reinforces a stronger culture of exclusive homophobia than among young women.
McCreary notes that boys are more severely punished by parents and ostracized from peer groups for displaying typically effeminate traits, which serves to amplify in-group homophobia.
Overall, the combination of negative reinforcement from parents and a social hierarchy based upon obeying fixed notions of masculinity makes homophobia among young men uniquely toxic.
McCreary also notes that the elevation of typically "male" behavior as a social ideal, especially one that is tied to power and authority, amplifies the harshness of in-group homophobia among young men and adolescent boys.
One of McCreary's studies presented a spread of invented personas to a set of college-aged students and asked subjects to identify the sexual orientation of each.