Men and Personal Relationships

It has been suggested that the capacity of men to maintain close personal relationships is seriously undermined by the expectations of society.

From a young age, males are expected to be ruggedly independent, risk taking, competitive, task focused shapers of the world. They are encouraged to avoid behaviours such as self protection, asking for help, expressing emotions, exploring their inner life and being oriented towards relationships. While these traditional masculine ways of behaving are needed for many of the important tasks of our society, a rigid, inflexible adherence to this way of being male can leave men feeling inadequate, unfulfilled, self-alienated, and isolated.

Successful, close, personal relationships require co-operation, trust, openness and a sharing of emotions, power and dependency. Yet, the traditional way of being male requires men to be independent, guarded, in control, and dominant. This contradiction between the requirements for successful relating and traditional masculinity places men in a dilemma. Men want and need close relationships but they often experience confusion, misunderstanding, hurt and failure in these relationships. It would not seem unconnected that the majority of divorce proceedings in Australia today are initiated by women.

So if you would like to study the challenge of relating why not consider joining us in one of the Relationship Psychology courses? You will find many new ways of understanding relationships, lively discussion, support, and a chance to practise new ways of relating.

                —Colin Bell, Tutor.