2013 — Coaching Boys into Men: a cluster-randomized controlled trial of a dating-violence prevention program

What the study found

This cluster-randomized controlled trial tested Coaching Boys Into Men, a program in which high-school athletic coaches deliver brief scripted lessons on respect and healthy relationships to their teams. The study enrolled 2,006 male athletes across 16 high schools, with 1,798 completing the three-month follow-up. Athletes whose coaches delivered the program reported stronger intentions to intervene in abusive situations and higher rates of positive bystander behaviour than controls, and recognised abusive behaviours better where the program ran at full intensity; changes in gender-equitable attitudes and in self-reported dating-violence perpetration were not statistically significant at that follow-up. ^[1]

Why it matters here

The finding bears on how the influence of male role models on boys can be measured and, in principle, redirected. It shows that a structured, coach-led intervention can move boys' willingness to step in against abuse, even when deeper attitudes are slower to shift — a useful counterpoint when weighing whether exposure to a given online figure meaningfully shapes behaviour. That distinction between short-term intentions and durable attitude change informs the question of whether watching Andrew Tate causes misogyny, where the same gap between stated attitudes and acted-on behaviour is central.