Karel Karsten Himawan, Pradipta Christy Pratiwi
Current body of literature has consistently suggested that men’s voice in research around romantic relationships is underrepresented. The cultural represen-tation around gender in society, particularly those in a patriarchal culture that seems to polarize men against the relationship being, also adds to the hesitancy of men in having their voices heard in discourses about relationships and romance. On the other side, growing evidence indicates how men construct, perceive, and experience romantic relationships in a unique way compared to women. The present study aims at exploring men’s unique perception and experience, particularly in a dating rela-tionship. Seven heterosexual males participated in a 120-min, onsite focus group discussion. Participants’ responses were audio recorded and their responses were transcribed for analysis through thematic coding procedure. Three themes are iden-tified highlighting men’s perceptions and experience in a relationship: (1) relation-ship as a means for self-validation and self-existence, (2) relationship as a long-term journey, and (3) common societal misconceptions of men’s roles in a relationship. The results challenged common stereotypes among men and the traditional hyper-gamy marriage ideal. The study adds important contribution in providing nuances in men’s experience in a relationship beyond the discussion of power and sex, which were often the predominant themes as indicated in previous literature. Practically termed, the study provides valuable insights to improve well-being of individuals of both genders by managing and aligning their relationship expectations. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.
Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Pelita Harapan, Tangerang, Indonesia; RELASI Research Lab, Universitas Pelita Harapan, Tangerang, Indonesia; Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia; Department of Psychology, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Semarang City, Indonesia
