To sell a mammoth SUV to a man, a new study in Science suggests, the best technique is to question his masculinity.   Researchers at Cornell University tested the effect of insecurity on men’s attitudes by giving a survey on gender identity to about 50 men.  The men were then told that an analysis of the survey showed that they exhibited “weak” male characteristics indeed, that their attitudes were effeminate.

The researchers then surveyed the men’s attitudes toward politics, homosexuals, and car purchases, comparing them with a group of men whose masculinity had not been questioned.  The threatened men we more likely to support the war in Iraq, more likely to oppose gay marriage and denounce gays, and more likely to express a desire to buy an SUV.

In fact, they were so eager to buy an SUV that they said they would be willing to pay up to $7000 more for the vehicle than were men in the other group.  “Masculinity-threatened men also admitted feeling more ashamed, guilty, upset, and hostile,” says lead researcher Robb Willer.  Women, the study found, did not change their attitudes when told their attitudes were masculine.