Brooke Weinmann (Sociology) just published a co-authored article titled, "'I'm a Good Guy Who Deserves Better, Yet Nobody Wants to Give me Better': The Accounts of Nice Guys" in the journal Symbolic Interaction. Weinmann and her co-author, Dennis Waskul (Minnesota State University, Mankato), explore the concept of the "Nice Guy" and the narratives of men who are concerned they might be one.

The authors find that niceness is valued when it is perceived as authentic and genuine, not as a performative social investment. A "Nice Guy" is a man who performs niceness towards women in the hopes that women will eventually reciprocate romantic or sexual feelings toward him. In an anonymous online forum, the authors explore users' accounts and displays of hybrid masculinity in men's narratives of their unsuccessful romantic and sexual pursuits with women. The authors use their findings to formulate a framework of perceived (in)authenticity and performative niceness, and offer two additional types of accounts used to explain undue behavior — denials and admissions.