The university period provides a critical developmental transition from adolescence to adulthood. During this period, young people establish patterns of behaviors and make lifestyle choices that affect their current and future health. Using the social constructionist paradigm that examines the development of masculinities as a mutual construct of individual, social, cultural, and historical context, this article explores the interactions between masculinities and sexual behaviors of young men at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study used a qualitative approach and employed purposive sampling to recruit 36 young Black male students aged between 18 and 30 years. Four focus group discussions consisting of 8 to 10 participants were conducted according to the current year of study of male students. Data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed thematically. Our results show that the freedom and independence acquired from being away from home enabled students to enact their masculinities freely. Our findings further reveal that an individual has multiple masculinities which are often exerted to suit the present discourse they are in at any given point.

大学时期提供了从青春期到成年期的关键发展过渡。在此期间，年轻人会建立行为模式并做出影响他们当前和未来健康的生活方式选择。本文使用社会建构主义范式，将男子气概的发展视为个人、社会、文化和历史背景的相互建构，探讨了南非夸祖鲁-纳塔尔大学青年男子的男子气概与性行为之间的相互作用。该研究使用定性方法并采用有目的的抽样来招募 36 名年龄在 18 至 30 岁之间的年轻黑人男学生。根据男学生的当前学习年份，进行了四次由 8 到 10 名参与者组成的焦点小组讨论。数据被转录、编码、并进行专题分析。我们的研究结果表明，远离家乡所获得的自由和独立使学生能够自由地展现他们的男子气概。我们的研究结果进一步揭示了一个人具有多种男性气质，这些男性气质通常被用来适应他们在任何给定点所处的当前话语。