One is the loneliest number: Involuntary celibacy (incel), mental health, and loneliness

Abstract

Incels—a ragtag collection of young males who have rallied around their shared experience of romantic rejection—have slowly emerged as an online group of interest to researchers, no doubt as a result of several high-profile attacks. Much of this work has centered around incels’ dating experiences, sexual attitudes, and online forums. However, it is possible that their moniker, short for involuntary celibate, has resulted in an overemphasis on their sexual exclusion and frustration. Recent work has identified social isolation as a key aspect of inceldom, which may help explain why incels have responded negatively to romantic rejection. The present study thus sought to examine the role of social support and loneliness in experiences of rejection in a sample of incel (n = 67) and non-incel (n = 103) men. Results indicated that incels experience more feelings of loneliness and less social supports than non-incel men. Both of these variables were associated with multiple mental and relational health issues that incels also scored more highly on. Further, incels reported using more solitary and problematic coping mechanisms. These results suggest that incels may be missing a key buffer in sheltering them from the adverse effects of romantic rejection. It also extends previous findings highlighting the importance of attachment styles in differentiating incels from non-incels, which may perpetuate feelings of isolation. Implications for how this may relate to incel discourse and clinical interventions are discussed.

Enough with the incels! A literary cry for help from female insings (involuntary single).

“…Sigurd at first adopts the deterministic beliefs common in incel forums, that genetics are so important that certain men have no chance of becoming sexually active or pair-bonded (Bachaud & Johns, 2023; Sparks et al, 2024). Like single men in general, he overestimates the importance of physical attractiveness and underestimates the importance of intelligence, kindness, and humor (Costello et al, 2023; Whyte et al, 2016).…”

“…Box 1116 Blindern, 0317 Oslo, Norway. Email: madla@uio.no Russo-Batterham, et al, 2022;Costello et al, 2022Hoffman et al, 2020;Räsänen, 2023;Sparks et al, 2022Sparks et al, , 2024-for instance, through explaining why, when men's and women's evolved mate preferences play out in the modern West, the lowest-value men become excluded from mating. Incels have been common throughout most of human history (Larsen, 2023c(Larsen, , 2023d.…”

Incels: An Introduction for Mental Health Clinicians

“…14,16,17 Recently, researchers are moving beyond analyzing forum posts, a method that dominated the early scholarship, to interviewing self-identified incels directly 26 or pairing with incel forums to distribute surveys to forum members. 27,28 Increasing attention is also being given to the mental health of incels, [28][29][30][31] including their risk for self-harm and suicide. 30 Speckhard and Ellenberg 28 found that incels report significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety, and autism spectrum disorders then the general public and that participation on incel forums was associated with despair, suicidality, and negative coping mechanisms.…”

“…Social isolation is extremely prominent in incels, and compared with nonincel men, incels were more likely to have an insecure attachment style and low self-esteem. 31 There is a broad consensus among researchers on the elements of incel ideology and its development as a branch of the manosphere over the course of the past 2 decades. There is a divide, however, in formulating the nature of the threat of incel violence.…”

“…Speckhard and Ellenberg 28 found that incels report significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety, and autism spectrum disorders then the general public and that participation on incel forums was associated with despair, suicidality, and negative coping mechanisms. Social isolation is extremely prominent in incels, and compared with nonincel men, incels were more likely to have an insecure attachment style and low self-esteem 31 …”