Abstract
Objectives: The quality of intimate partner relationships strongly influences men’s mental health, yet little research attention has been given to these relationships from a strengths-based critical masculinities perspective. Addressing this knowledge gap, this photovoice study provides insights into young men’s experiences of, and perspectives about, building intimate partner relationships.
Design: Photovoice methodology. Setting: This study was conducted virtually over Zoom.
Method: Working with 120 participant-produced photographs from 64 men who resided in 13 countries, who and ranged in age from 19 to 43 years ( M = 29.5), the current photovoice study provides a thematic analysis.
Results: Three themes were derived. The first of these, Balancing autonomy and coupledom, stressed men’s openness to making and communicating ongoing partnership adjustments. Predominately sharing identity and social connection examples, men spoke to the need to retain a degree of individual agency while meeting joint expectations within a relationship. The second theme, Building compatibility and mutuality, highlighted men’s congruence with their partner as the foundation for actively being together. Flowing from this, mutuality was idealised as jointly bringing about gender equality and gender equity to sustain a relationship through inevitable ups and downs. The third theme, Communicating intimacy, was best accomplished by men having regular discussions with partners to express their affections, and to understand and meet each other’s sexual and emotional needs. Central to nourishing intimacy was a closeness, often garnered by men’s intentional efforts to secure secluded couple-orientated experiences.
Conclusion: The findings question stereotypes depicting men as inept in, or ambivalent about, their partnerships. Instead they offer insight into wide-ranging strength-based relational masculinities that enable young men to build intimate partner relationships.