by Amie Higginbottom

In today’s article, we are delighted to be able to share Amie Higginbottom’s experience and insights from the final-year psychology research project. The final-year project is a significant undertaking that draws on all of the skills and knowledge students develop throughout their psychology degree. And, as you’ll see, Amie’s fascinating account shows that the project is not only a chance to put your skills into practice, but also the opportunity to explore thought-provoking questions, to learn, and to uncover answers that can change our understanding of important issues.

How it started

My name is Amie and I am a final year Forensic Psychology undergrad at NTU. I’m just about to submit my final-year research project on male, non-drinking students’ experiences and perspectives of anti-social behaviour within the night-time economy. It has been both a stressful and interesting process, which has had an impact on me. Based on my own personal interest in abstinence from alcohol, some might say I would easily stumble across male students who also didn’t drink, but it was not that easy. Being a female non-drinking student myself, with interesting sober experiences, I have always had a curiosity towards male sobriety experiences and whether they would differ to my own. It was certainly a step outside of my comfort zone, attempting to recruit participants from a rather niche population, and my experiences of recruiting and interviewing were far from what I expected. Both the research findings, as well as the process itself can be eye-opening, so I thought I’d share the knowledge and experience from conducting my own research project, to give some insight for those who will be carrying out their own projects in the years to come. And also to illustrate how research can change your perceptions.

Three men, drinking, in a dimly lit bar

The Men

Initially, I was hesitant being a woman conducting qualitative research with men; I knew it would require going beyond surface-level interaction to gain rich, detailed data. I expected male students to not want to get involved and, if I managed to get any students willing to partake, to treat the interviews as a chore. At first, I only knew of one male non-drinking student, and I was very doubtful of my potential to find others as there seemed to be no obvious clubs or ‘societies’ for male sobriety at university. However, once I began speaking to and explaining my struggles to this first participant, I was positively surprised as he revealed a network of non-drinkers. After reaching out to this group, I was shocked, as my recruitment was met with willingness and enthusiasm to participate in my research. It was clear that abstinence was a topic that they too had a strong interest in vocalising, not just me. It gave my research extra meaning, knowing I was now providing a platform for such a minority population to explain their personal experiences and perspectives.

Man with his head resting his head on a table

When speaking with the participants before the interviews, I felt their gratitude, as I was giving them an opportunity others had not. I’d say it was probably the interviews which were the biggest eye opener for me. Every single participant explained their experiences, struggles and perspectives with so much detail, it left me in disbelief. I felt comfort in knowing that male non-drinkers I interviewed held similar opinions and outlooks towards the Night-time Economy as me, I had assumed they wouldn’t give this a second thought. Topics such as sexual harassment, spiking and substance misuse were discussed maturely, carrying so much emotion behind them. I began to see non-drinking was more than just a choice for these men and the reasons behind their sobriety held so much importance towards who they are. It left me wondering how such life changing and emotive experiences from men could have been overlooked.

The Myths

Let’s talk male emotions. I’ll admit that before this project I was subject to thinking ‘men were closed books’ and that ‘men have a stiff upper lip’. Research tells us that men tend not to seek help for mental health problems compared to women (Wendt & Shafer, 2016), and that the assumption that men should be ‘strong’, lends way to a reluctance in men verbally expressing their emotions, instead of proving their robustness through risk taking behaviours such as alcohol misuse (Rice et al., 2018). But could it be that we are just not giving men the space to have these difficult conversations? Or not asking them the right questions? I have now learned that with these stereotypes and myths, comes misconception.

It is rather upsetting to think these preconceptions of male emotions still linger in 2023 and that society has a clear misunderstanding of men, especially non-drinking males. My participants described experiences of constant questioning from drinkers, and even female students projecting expectations onto non-drinkers by claiming they were not ‘men’ if they didn’t drink. With attitudes such as this still around, there is no wonder male deaths are 200% higher than females as a result of not receiving mental health care (Meeussen et al., 2020). I began to see non-drinking was attached to men’s identities for the wrong reasons, and I worry that nothing seems to be changing. I realised that it seems that drinkers do not care to interact with male non-drinkers beyond surface level conversation to fully understand that men can and do cry; men share similar caring qualities to women; men are paranoid of sexual harassment claims; and men do talk about their emotions when given the opportunity. It seems university creates a harmful masculine climate that covers who men really are and only focuses on what men are ‘expected’ to be.

Men laughing and drinking in a bar

The Research

My research illuminated, for me, the importance of including minority populations within future qualitative research and how their experiences differ from the considered ‘norms’, especially for non-drinking males. I think it is also important to recognise that providing a non-judgmental space for men to speak about their experiences is crucial for future research to combat hegemonic masculinity and develop a deeper understanding of men in qualitative research. This experience has only deepened my hope that we can move away from ingrained drinking behaviours and masculine expectations, especially within universities, and to raise awareness of the harmful consequences these can have, especially on minority groups that are often not considered. I also hope to provoke thought and reflection about men and men’s willingness to engage in deep conversation. Perhaps we should not argue that ‘men don’t talk’ but ask ‘how should we listen to men’?

Take-home messages

  • Expect the unexpected when researching into minority populations.
  • We, as a society, have misunderstood men.
  • Men are willing to open up if you give them a judgement-free platform to do so.
  • We label rejections of social norms to people’s identities and judge them for it. Let’s stop this.

References

  • Meeussen, L., Van Laar, C., & Van Grootel, S. (2020). How to foster male engagement in traditionallyfemale communal roles and occupations: Insights from research on gender norms and precarious manhood. Social Issues and Policy Review, 14(1), 297-328.
  • Rice, S. M., Purcell, R., & McGorry, P. D. (2018). Adolescent and young adult male mental health: transforming system failures into proactive models of engagement. Journal of Adolescent Health, 62(3), S9-S17.
  • Wendt, D., & Shafer, K. (2016). Gender and attitudes about mental health help seeking: results from national data. Health & social work, 41(1), e20-e28.

Image credits:

  • Header image: Photo by Kampus Production on pexels.com
  • Three men drinking: Photo by Mart Production from pexels.com
  • Man head down on table: Photo by jose pena on Unsplash
  • Men drinking and laughing in a bar: Photo by John Arano on Unsplash