cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/scientificarticles/p/1459618/fear-responsibility-and-shame-in-young-mens-sexual-lives-new-study-suggests-that-many-yo
This study examines how this generation of young heterosexual men—who have come of age in the “age of consent”—emotionally experience sex. We thematically analyzed 31 in-depth interviews with men aged 18 to 32 years. The most striking finding is how rarely these men described enjoying sex. Three themes emerged. First, anxiety and vigilance accompanied sexual encounters. Second, there was a moral concern about causing harm to a sexual partner. Third, shame arose not only from accusations by others, but also from self-criticism. The themes overlap substantially, suggesting aspects of a complex, sometimes contradictory experience. The defining feature is an inward turn: a cultural suspicion of men appears to have been internalized by some young men. For these men, the question when navigating consent is often not only “does she want this?” but “am I the kind of man who could get this wrong?” Sex, as one participant put it, is “like you’re trying to defuse a bomb.” These young men have come to approach sex as a hazard to manage rather than a relational experience to share. They attributed this wariness to the cultural climate that surrounds consent.
Holy invalidating methodological weaknesses that journal has a low credibility score.
Also, the paper is incomprehensibly written, but after digging through the sources, the dataset is 35 self selected (through internet peer recruitment) college aged men (of which 31 were heteosexual).
As the study is qualitative, it’s no use criticising the findings too badly. It shouldn’t be hard to find 31 chronically online men on a forum/discord/comm somewhere who share these ideas.
It would be interesting to compare this to a more average population though.
Thanks for checking the journal’s score. In an earlier career I did IDIs. If recruited correctly, it can inform later qualitative research paths.
N=2 and all, but both my sons are in this age range and have described exactly this post did. Then again, neither is particularly neurotypical, so who knows.
I did a qualitative thesis last spring and learnt to check up on journals, we had to complement a fair bit of our review materials due to poor credibility.
I’ve also anecdotally heard this sentiment before, but also from neurodiverse people with limited experience of relationships. I’ve found it treatable through mental health strengthening and practice, and thus thought it isolated to the specifics of ND trauma. It seems maybe I should be more open minded about it.