Emotions and Society· 2026Q1
Navigating contradictory feeling rules: young men’s feelings towards violence against women prevention messages in Scotland
- 1citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Young Scottish men use emotional reflexivity to reconcile conflicting societal expectations of being 'good guys' when engaging with violence against women prevention (VAWP) messages.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Young men (18-25) in Scotland feel conflicted by societal expectations regarding violence against women prevention (VAWP).
- Emotional reflexivity acts as a key mechanism for young men to navigate these contradictory 'feeling rules'.
- Participants try to reconcile being perceived as 'good guys' while engaging with VAWP messages.
- Analysis is based on accounts from 20 self-identifying young men in Scotland.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
This article examines how young men feel about violence against women prevention (VAWP) messages and being young men, utilising a novel approach focusing primarily on emotion and how this is shaped by wider cultural discourses. Through analysing the accounts of 20 self-identifying young men (aged 18 to 25 years) living in Scotland, this article examines how they feel within the polarised terrain of gender politics. This article makes an original contribution by showing that emotional reflexivity acts as a compass for young men trying to be ‘good guys’ when navigating conflicting feeling rules of being either caring or uncaring towards women and their rights. This research establishes the importance of taking young men’s emotional reflexivity into account when designing VAWP messages aimed at (young) men in order to avoid alienating men who have positive attitudes and to maximise engagement in this work.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Emotions and Society, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Health
HealthSocial Sciences