Authors
William Costello, Vania Rolon, Andrew G Thomas, David Schmitt
Publication date
2022/12
Journal
Evolutionary Psychological Science
Volume
8
Issue
4
Pages
375-390
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Description
Incels (involuntary celibates) are a subculture community of men who build their identity around their perceived inability to form sexual or romantic relationships. To address the dearth of primary data collected from incels, this study compared a sample (n = 151) of self-identified male incels with similarly aged non-incel males (n = 378) across a range of measures related to mental well-being. We also examined the role of sociosexuality and tendency for interpersonal victimhood as potential moderators of incel status and its links with mental health. Compared to non-incels, incels were found to have a greater tendency for interpersonal victimhood, higher levels of depression, anxiety and loneliness, and lower levels of life satisfaction. As predicted, incels also scored higher on levels of sociosexual desire, but this did not appear to moderate the relationship between incel status and mental well-being. Tendency for …
Total citations
20222023202442628
Scholar articles
W Costello, V Rolon, AG Thomas, D Schmitt - Evolutionary Psychological Science, 2022