Status and mental well-being of young males in a rural community

Abstract

The article deals with the topic of status and mental well-being of young males in a rural community. It is based on findings from research conducted in Hornafjörður municipality where interviews were conducted with people working with young adults, focus groups interviews with young males and a questionnarie presented for both young males and females in 2021. The aim was to investigate how community values and discourse affect young males` achievments, in particular their progress of study, mental well-being and future plans. Findings indicate that communiy values and discourse about dominant masculinity affect young adults, especially young males and that is in line with other resarch which show that individuals are affected by the values and rules that are dominant in the community. Thus, it is important for a community to have all inhabitants in mind and see to that dominant values do not affect some groups negatively.