The Mating Psychology of Incels (Involuntary Celibates): Misfortunes, Misperceptions, and Misrepresentations

Costello, William; Rolon, Vania; Thomas, Andrew; Schmitt, David P.

doi:10.1080/00224499.2023.2248096

Journal article 305 views

The Mating Psychology of Incels (Involuntary Celibates): Misfortunes, Misperceptions, and Misrepresentations

William Costello

, Vania Rolon

, Andrew Thomas

, David P. Schmitt

The Journal of Sex Research, Pages: 1 - 12

Swansea University Author: Andrew Thomas

Accepted Manuscript under embargo until: 7th September 2024

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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/00224499.2023.2248096

Abstract

Mating represents a suite of fundamental adaptive problems for humans. Yet a community of men, called incels (involuntary celibates), forge their identity around their perceived inability to solve these problems. Many incels engage in misogynistic online hostility, and there are concerns about viole...

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Published in:	The Journal of Sex Research
ISSN:	0022-4499 1559-8519
Published:	Informa UK Limited
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64509
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first_indexed	2023-09-12T08:16:11Z
last_indexed	2023-09-12T08:16:11Z
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spelling	v2 64509 2023-09-12 The Mating Psychology of Incels (Involuntary Celibates): Misfortunes, Misperceptions, and Misrepresentations a43308ae6d7f5b8d5ab0daff5b832a96 0000-0001-5251-7923 Andrew Thomas Andrew Thomas true false 2023-09-12 HPS Mating represents a suite of fundamental adaptive problems for humans. Yet a community of men, called incels (involuntary celibates), forge their identity around their perceived inability to solve these problems. Many incels engage in misogynistic online hostility, and there are concerns about violence stemming from the community. Despite significant media speculation about the potential mating psychology of incels, this has yet to be formally investigated in the scientific literature. In the first formal investigation of incel mating psychology, we compared a sample (n = 151) of self-identified male incels with non-incel single males (n = 149). Findings revealed that incels have a lower sense of self-perceived mate-value and a greater external locus of control regarding their singlehood. Contrary to mainstream media narratives, incels also reported lower minimum standards for mate preferences than non-incels. Incels (and non-incel single men) significantly overestimated the importance of physical attractiveness and financial prospects to women, and underestimated the importance of intelligence, kindness, and humor. Furthermore, incels underestimated women’s overall minimum mate preference standards. Our findings suggest that incels should be targeted for interventions to challenge cognitive distortions around female mate preferences. Implications for incels’ mental health and misogynistic attitudes are discussed, as well as directions for future research. Journal Article The Journal of Sex Research 1 12 Informa UK Limited 0022-4499 1559-8519 0 0 0 0001-01-01 10.1080/00224499.2023.2248096 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2023.2248096 COLLEGE NANME Psychology COLLEGE CODE HPS Swansea University Not Required 2024-02-02T08:51:44.8297560 2023-09-12T09:09:34.5549047 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology William Costello 0000-0002-0346-6370 1 Vania Rolon 0000-0001-6620-9032 2 Andrew Thomas 0000-0001-5251-7923 3 David P. Schmitt 0000-0001-7089-0983 4 Under embargo Under embargo 2023-10-04T14:17:58.6800268 Output 893747 application/pdf Accepted Manuscript true 2024-09-07T00:00:00.0000000 true eng
title	The Mating Psychology of Incels (Involuntary Celibates): Misfortunes, Misperceptions, and Misrepresentations
spellingShingle	The Mating Psychology of Incels (Involuntary Celibates): Misfortunes, Misperceptions, and Misrepresentations Andrew Thomas
title_short	The Mating Psychology of Incels (Involuntary Celibates): Misfortunes, Misperceptions, and Misrepresentations
title_full	The Mating Psychology of Incels (Involuntary Celibates): Misfortunes, Misperceptions, and Misrepresentations
title_fullStr	The Mating Psychology of Incels (Involuntary Celibates): Misfortunes, Misperceptions, and Misrepresentations
title_full_unstemmed	The Mating Psychology of Incels (Involuntary Celibates): Misfortunes, Misperceptions, and Misrepresentations
title_sort	The Mating Psychology of Incels (Involuntary Celibates): Misfortunes, Misperceptions, and Misrepresentations
author_id_str_mv	a43308ae6d7f5b8d5ab0daff5b832a96
author_id_fullname_str_mv	a43308ae6d7f5b8d5ab0daff5b832a96_***_Andrew Thomas
author	Andrew Thomas
author2	William Costello Vania Rolon Andrew Thomas David P. Schmitt
format	Journal article
container_title	The Journal of Sex Research
container_start_page	1
institution	Swansea University
issn	0022-4499 1559-8519
doi_str_mv	10.1080/00224499.2023.2248096
publisher	Informa UK Limited
college_str	Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_title	Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_parent_title	Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str	School of Psychology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Psychology
url	http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2023.2248096
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description	Mating represents a suite of fundamental adaptive problems for humans. Yet a community of men, called incels (involuntary celibates), forge their identity around their perceived inability to solve these problems. Many incels engage in misogynistic online hostility, and there are concerns about violence stemming from the community. Despite significant media speculation about the potential mating psychology of incels, this has yet to be formally investigated in the scientific literature. In the first formal investigation of incel mating psychology, we compared a sample (n = 151) of self-identified male incels with non-incel single males (n = 149). Findings revealed that incels have a lower sense of self-perceived mate-value and a greater external locus of control regarding their singlehood. Contrary to mainstream media narratives, incels also reported lower minimum standards for mate preferences than non-incels. Incels (and non-incel single men) significantly overestimated the importance of physical attractiveness and financial prospects to women, and underestimated the importance of intelligence, kindness, and humor. Furthermore, incels underestimated women’s overall minimum mate preference standards. Our findings suggest that incels should be targeted for interventions to challenge cognitive distortions around female mate preferences. Implications for incels’ mental health and misogynistic attitudes are discussed, as well as directions for future research.
published_date	0001-01-01T08:51:44Z
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The Mating Psychology of Incels (Involuntary Celibates): Misfortunes, Misperceptions, and Misrepresentations

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