Generalising men’s affective experiences

ABSTRACT

Existing approaches to understanding gendered emotions have inadequately identified the complexity of masculine affective experience on a macro-social (population) level. The division of social science into quantitative surveys of singular emotions (e.g. happiness) at the macro-social level, or qualitative examinations of multiplex feelings (i.e. multiple emotional/affective sensations experienced simultaneously) at the micro (local) level leaves existing studies unable to generalise and challenge stereotypes about the gendered affective experiences of the population. This paper uses national data from the 2015–2016 Australian Survey of Social Attitudes to show that men’s reported affective experience is characterised by a multiplex of conflicting primary and secondary emotions at the macro-level. Men’s primary surface emotions seem conventional, in that they are relatively more likely to report ‘work’-oriented emotions like enthusiasm, confidence, pride, and assertiveness. However, men are also more likely to report ‘care’-oriented emotions like care and sympathy, stress, loneliness, and anxiety as secondary emotions. Men who report primary feelings of tiredness and frustration are also more likely to report secondary feelings of love. These findings suggest that, at the macro-social level, men experience a multiplex of emotions consistent with being affectively engaged in family as much as working life, and challenge many stereotypes about men’s affective experience.

KEYWORDS:

• Affect
• emotions
• men
• masculinity
• anger
• stress
• love
• happiness

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Roger Patulny is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Social Research Methods in the Faculty of Law, Humanities and Arts, University of Wollongong, Australia. He has published widely on social capital, gendered patterns, and emotional well-being associated with social connection, exclusion, and daily time-use patterns. He has also completed several studies on emotions, and is a co-founder and current co-convenor of the Australian Sociological Association (TASA) Thematic Group on the Sociology of Emotions and Affect (SEA).

Vern Smith is a PhD candidate at the University of Wollongong, studying the sociology of emotions. He is currently researching the emotion management utilised by pre-service teachers. Previously, he has explored the detachment techniques of dating app users.

Kai Soh is a PhD candidate at the University of Wollongong. Her research mainly explores the transformation of Chinese film and digital media audiences, and how fans of popular culture are producing user-generated content on online social networking sites. Her personal interest in the construction of emotions and masculinity led her to become part of this research project.

ORCID

Vern Smith http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1800-9156

Kai Soh http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4379-2955

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by an FCG Pilot Grant from the Faculty of Law Humanties and Arts, University of Wollongong.