There’s been a lot of noise around masculinity lately — loud opinions, sharper labels, and plenty of polarising commentary. Scroll for five minutes and you’ll likely encounter extremes: hyper-performative bravado on one side, uncertainty and silence on the other. But somewhere beyond that digital theatre lies a quieter, more nuanced reality — one grounded not in headlines, but in lived experience. That’s precisely what the newly launched 2025 Male Confidence Index by Man of Many sets out to uncover — and the numbers tell a story that’s both confronting and quietly hopeful.
Developed over more than a year and based on a nationally representative survey of 2,001 Australians aged 18 to 64 — including 1,405 men and 596 women — the research offers Australia’s first benchmark snapshot of how male confidence is actually experienced today. Rather than diagnosing or prescribing, it tracks patterns across five life domains including finances, wellbeing, relationships, identity, and self-direction.
What emerges isn’t crisis, but transition. The national Index score sits at 63 out of 100 — suggesting most men are managing rather than thriving. Only 19 per cent fall into the highest confidence bracket, while 45 per cent report moderate confidence and 36 per cent sit below that range, highlighting just how uneven confidence can be when life pressures shift or accumulate.
Confidence, it turns out, doesn’t follow the trajectory we might assume. Experience doesn’t guarantee assurance. Younger men lead the curve, with Gen Z scoring 66 points overall, followed by Millennials at 64, before dropping to a midlife low of 60 among Gen X.
It’s a striking paradox — confidence appears strongest earlier in life, softening at the very moment stability and experience peak. This “midlife confidence cliff” isn’t a dramatic collapse but a gradual narrowing, evident across work, relationships, wellbeing, and self-belief.
Yet the generational data holds encouraging signals. Emotional openness within families appears to be shifting meaningfully. Younger men report stronger communication and connection with their fathers growing up, and are far more likely to describe their upbringing as confidence-building — evidence that changing parenting norms are reshaping emotional literacy across generations.
It’s a reminder that cultural transformation happens in intimate spaces — through modelling care, presence, and vulnerability — long before it becomes visible in public discourse.
Still, confidence rarely exists in isolation from modern pressures. Digital life adds a layer of complexity. The research shows that highly connected younger men often report increased day-to-day confidence alongside heightened comparison and pressure — highlighting the distinction between feeling visible and feeling supported.
That tension surfaces in wellbeing patterns too. Younger men express stronger confidence in managing their health, yet also report the highest levels of anxiety beneath the surface. Nearly half — 48 per cent — say they use recreational drugs to manage stress, compared with 38 per cent overall, while Millennials are more likely to turn to alcohol, at 49 per cent.
It’s a nuanced emotional landscape: awareness and openness growing, but coping strategies still evolving.
Perhaps most relevant for women reading — partners, sisters, friends, colleagues — is how relational perception shapes the confidence conversation. The study reveals a clear gender perspective gap. While 92 per cent of women say confidence matters in attraction, only around six in ten describe their male partner as highly confident.
Across most domains, women rate men’s confidence lower than men rate themselves, and many observe a persistent pressure on men to appear in control even when struggling.
This isn’t a criticism — it’s a relational insight. Confidence may be felt internally, but it’s interpreted externally through behaviour, communication, and emotional visibility.
Definitions of masculinity reveal similar divergence. Women are more likely to prioritise empathy and vulnerability, while men emphasise strength — reflecting an evolving but unsettled understanding of what masculinity looks like today.
Rather than conflict, this difference represents potential — an expanding vocabulary where strength and softness can coexist rather than compete.
The Index also highlights how strongly connection underpins confidence. Younger men report greater ease forming relationships and expressing emotional needs, while older generations show lower confidence in seeking help or disclosing vulnerability — and across all ages, men are far more likely to confide in trusted personal connections than approach formal support services.
It reinforces something many lifestyle conversations already recognise: wellbeing isn’t built in isolation. It grows through community, shared experience, and emotional safety.
Financial identity adds another dimension. While economic independence remains a powerful marker of success, it’s also one of the domains where confidence feels most strained — particularly amid rising living costs and housing pressures. Confidence appears tied not just to income, but to perceived control, adaptability, and stability.
Reframing financial confidence around resilience rather than constant upward momentum may prove central to sustaining wellbeing in uncertain economic climates.
Ultimately, what the Male Confidence Index offers is not a verdict, but perspective — a data-informed invitation to reconsider assumptions. Confidence is shown to shift across life stages, shaped by relationships, expectations, environments, and identity. It isn’t static or individualistic — it’s relational, contextual, and evolving.
And perhaps that’s the most uplifting takeaway of all. Because if confidence changes, it can also be supported, strengthened, and reimagined. Through emotionally present parenting. Honest midlife narratives. Expanding definitions of strength. Conversations between partners. And, through community spaces that prioritise belonging over performance.
In a culture often drawn toward extremes, grounding the conversation in nuance feels quietly radical. Not shouting louder. Not withdrawing. But listening — measuring — understanding. Because confidence doesn’t just influence men individually; it shapes the emotional ecosystems we all inhabit. And when those ecosystems grow healthier, more open, and more connected, everyone benefits.
