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Sussex psychologist scores 'lad points' for BBC documentary

Sussex psychologist Dr Richard de Visser was labelled as ‘Dr Lad Points’ in a BBC Radio 1 documentary aired on Tuesday (7 October).

Dr Richard de Visser, profile pic

DJ Chris StarkDJ Chris Stark

Dr de Visser, whose research looks at the health behaviour of young people, was the academic expert in a programme exploring how and why young men award each other points for antics such as binge drinking and womanising.

Radio 1 DJ Chris Stark, who is credited with introducing the world to the term ‘lad points’, talked with Dr de Visser, a group of young farmers in Shropshire and a bunch of men on a night out in Chelmsford.

“I wish I could have come to one of your lectures,” said Chris, when he introduced Dr de Visser as “Dr Lad Points”.

Dr de Visser described how this had become an area of academic study. “We are looking at it because there are potential physical risks involved, whether that’s not going to the doctor because you think that’s a ‘particularly girlie’ thing to do, or to drink heavily because that’s how you think you’ll get lad points.

“What we have found is that people get the most lad points for the traditional masculine behaviour – being able to hold your drink, being good at sport, not showing weakness and not showing vulnerability.”

While the programme heard from young men about how sleeping with friends’ sisters earns lad points, even though moving into a flat with a girlfriend also scores highly, Dr Visser pointed to how changes in society have made it less clear what it is to be a man.

He also described how lad points become man points with age, with the scoring moving away from appearance and socialising, to the state of your wine rack or what car you drive.

And while the achievement of some points may be only fleeting, others become part of your capital. As Dr de Visser said: “Once you have them in the bank you have them forever. For example, David Beckham can be worried about his hair or his appearance because he already earned the lad points for what he did on the football field. He can be less masculine. He is living off the interest of his lad points.”

If you missed Tuesday’s broadcast and you’d like to hear what Dr de Visser had to say, you can listen online.