Scientists explain why 'mankeeping' is the reason women are 'quiet-quitting' relationships

Scientists say there's a new phenomenon that is making women 'quit' relationships with the opposite sex for good, called 'mankeeping'.

Women are apparently quitting heterosexual relationships on an unprecedented scale due to a reported spike in unmanageable emotional labor, aggravated by what experts say has been propelled by a 'male friendship recession'.

Loneliness was declared a national epidemic by the former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in 2023, and according to recent polls, young men in America between the ages of 15 to 34 are said to be among the loneliest in the Western world.

In the past three decades, men's social networks have apparently diminished in comparison to women, prompting many men with fewer close ties with their bros to rely on the women in their lives for support.

Women are reportedly making up for the lack of male friendships for their partners (Getty Stock Image)

Now, a new psychology study has revealed that shrinking friendship circles among men has taken a toll on their female partners, with women reportedly opting to spend their lives in solitude rather than pick up the pieces of the added emotional labor.

This emotional dependence has been piling on excessive pressure on women, the paper published in Psychology of Men & Masculinities reveals, which Stanford researchers theorize as a concept they call 'mankeeping'.

"Mankeeping refers to the efforts women make to compensate for men’s thinner social networks, which can strain their time and well-being," the study reads.

Experts say male loneliness is an epidemic in the US, particularly affecting younger men (Getty Stock Image)

"Specifically, 'mankeeping' is defined as the labor that women take on to shore up losses in men’s social networks and reduce the burden of men’s isolation on families, the heterosexual bond, and on men."

They claim the rise of this phenomenon adds another layer to add to the heap of gender inequality women face inside their homes and in their romantic relationships.

Angelica Ferrara, lead author of the paper and postdoctoral scholar at the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University, says the research reveals women spend several hours every week assisting the men in their lives with their emotional and social well-being.

She said 'mankeeping' like this is largely invisible and doesn't just apply to their partners but also their family members, coworkers and/or friends.

The problem has apparently become so bad women would rather not have relationships with men (Getty Stock Image)

The paper breaks down the theory into three components: emotional support, building social networks and teaching social skills.

It argues women 'tend to provide increased emotional support to men who do not have it elsewhere' and that this provision is a 'form of labor' and 'burden on their time' that is not 'equally reciprocated'.

The toxic combination is so bad it's reportedly putting women off from relationships and causing them to 'quiet-quit', where they mentally check out but remain physically around.

Another study similarly found a staggering 23 percent of women are now less likely to want to date than men after finding they've invested too much emotional labor in prior relationships.