Roger Patulny

"From emotional control to emotional competence? Rethinking contemporary masculinities" published on 29 Oct 2026 by Bristol University Press.

Relatively little is known about how loneliness is subjectively experienced, interpreted and managed by men negotiating contemporary masculinities. We undertook a scoping review of qualitative studies examining men’s lived experiences and management of loneliness. Eight themes reveal that men’s loneliness (1) often stems from alienation, difficulties expressing vulnerability and challenges forming authentic connections and (2) arises through negotiating competing masculine ideals, balancing stoicism and self-sufficiency with care and emotional expression. These tensions produce (3) lonely-emotion complexes comprising positive and negative emotions (for example, shame, anxiety, relief and hope) associated with loss, rebuilding and meaningful belonging and (4) the intertwining of loneliness with psychological distress, stigma and maladaptive silence, social withdrawal, substance use, suicidality and hypermasculine responses. Men’s loneliness is further shaped by (5) physical and digital spaces that foster either safety, recognition and belonging or exclusion and isolation and (6) having intersecting identities related to migration, race, sexuality, family roles and cultural backgrounds recognized and affirmed. Men manage loneliness by (7) adopting hybrid masculine strategies that balance autonomy, self-protection and self-development with vulnerability and connection across changing social contexts and relationships and (8) developing authentic, emotionally safe, dependable and personalized relationships where they feel heard, respected, useful and able to contribute meaningfully to others. We conclude that men’s loneliness is a dynamic emotional and relational process shaped by competing masculinities, intersecting social contexts and lonely-emotion complexes. Addressing men’s loneliness requires approaches that move beyond individual pathology to foster socially and emotionally safe environments that support diverse masculine identities, authentic belonging and meaningful connection.

With gender-antagonistic statements proliferating on Chinese social media, it is timely to examine the concept of ‘misandry’. An investigation into its affective qualities may reveal its potential as a form of either cohesive resistance or divisive abuse. Drawing upon 31 in-depth interviews with Chinese young urban women, this article shows that Chinese young women experienced, interpreted and reacted to a range of emotions associated with expressing misandry online, including not only negative feelings of hostility, fear and anger but also positive feelings, such as sympathy for other women, belongingness, support and empowerment. Compared to the simple definition of misandry as ‘hatred of men’, this article suggests that misandry is more than a stable essentialist prejudice and, instead, something felt towards the current social climate and socially produced through the circulation of discourses. Through engaging in online misandry discussions, young women developed an imagined feminist community to affectively bond and feel empowered, which is a form of emotional management. The findings contribute to the sociology of emotions in advancing theorizing around ressentiment and hatred when the assumption is about revenge and absolute annihilation. It also contributes to gender studies by showing that misandry operates as a politically situated emotional structure shaped by gender inequality, constrained feminist agency and digitally facilitated bonding.

International studies using the European Social Survey (ESS) reveal higher support for Universal Basic Income (UBI) in poorer countries with less generous welfare systems, and among individuals with lower income and education, and leftist political leanings. We present data from the 2019−20 Australian Survey of Social Attitudes mirroring the ESS question. Australia falls in the middle of European opinion, with 51% supporting a UBI, increasing slightly during the onset of Covid-19. We also find higher support among two different groups: (1) those facing greater ‘material’ precarity, including younger, low-income, unemployed, suburban renters, and (2) those who have more post-materialist concerns, including Green-left voters and those favouring redistributive values. Unlike in other countries, higher education predicts more support, while homeownership predicts less. The article concludes with challenges to introducing UBI to Australia, including potentially contradictory strategies for different support bases (material vs post-material), ongoing commitments to means-testing, and negative framing in the media.

Emerging evidence suggests COVID lockdowns have not only increased the social problem of loneliness but widened the ‘loneliness gap’ between the most and least lonely people. Qualitative investigation can reveal why this gap might have increased, for whom, and whether the loneliness gap will remain long term. Using multi‐wave qualitative survey data conducted during Australia’s 2020 lockdown period and beyond, we examine personal experiences of interaction transitioning out of lockdown. We find substantial and uneven impacts of COVID lasting well beyond lockdown. Participants reported heightened loneliness attributable to: physical isolation, health anxieties, ceased activities, reduced connection quality, and poor motivation. COVID also created new interactive difficulties for singles, those with physical and mental disabilities, their carers, and those with low social capital. There was also reported ‘pruning’ of social networks (i.e. reduced bridging, increased bonding social capital), and evidence that increased digital interaction did not substitute for lost physical contact. Younger people also experienced isolating COVID‐induced life disruptions (e.g. travel, university attendance etc). Findings suggest COVID has increased potential long‐term inequalities in loneliness, highlight the post COVID risks faced by vulnerable groups, and suggest caution in advocating digital solutions as a panacea for diminished physical interaction in the post‐pandemic world.

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Loneliness is becoming recognised as an important social issue with health and well‐being consequences. The recent and ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic has likely impacted loneliness through increased social isolation, though the effects may vary across urban and rural locations, where the dynamics of social capital, community cohesion and community divide are likely to differ. This paper consequently examines the different and compounding impacts of isolating disasters, such as bushfires and pandemics, on social capital and loneliness in urban and rural areas of Australia. This article compares experiences of loneliness in rural/regional and urban areas of Australia moving from the aftermath of the 2019–2020 bushfires into the COVID‐19 pandemic. Semi‐structured interviews provide a complex insight into how loneliness is experienced across different locations. The key findings included a higher sense of social divide exacerbating loneliness in rural communities, higher levels of loneliness among participants who lived alone in either area. It was concluded that loneliness was experienced extensively among those who were single and/or lived alone, regardless of their geographical location.