Predictors of Radical Intentions among Incels: A Survey of 54 Self-identified Incels
Sophia Moskalenko, Naama Kates, Juncal Fernández-Garayzábal González, and Mia Bloom
Sophia Moskalenko, Naama Kates, Juncal Fernández-Garayzábal González, and Mia Bloom
Full shit can be found in the attachments basically i'll just take a couple of snippets of the study here
tagging per request @Mecoja
This study aimed to expand this knowledge by conducting a survey of 54 self-identified Incels. Results demonstrated high rates of self-reported depression(91%),anxiety(85%),PTSD(40%), autism spectrum disorders (53%), and a history of bullying (91%). A new measure of radicalization specific to the Incel community (Incel Radi-calization Scale) demonstrated high internal consistency and construct validity, making it a useful tool for identification and early prevention of radicalization among Incels. Radicalization was not correlated with Incel ideological commitment. A small proportion of respondents (17%) scored above the midpoint on Incel Radicalization Scale, demonstrating high radicalization. Discussion focuses on implications for preventing and countering violent extremism efforts, including prioritizing mental health and trauma-informed care.
In expanding the primary data foundation of Incel research, we hope to address two specific research questions and one general question. Specifically, first, we want to assess the prevalence of mental health problems among Incels. Second, we want to measure the relationship between Incel ideology (beliefs about Incels as a group and their role in the world) and radicalization (support for violent and/or illegal action; (Moskalenko and McCauley 2020). More generally,given the publicity received by the notorious Incel killers, we want to explore a potential mismatch between the mass public’s widespread beliefs about Incels and Incels’ own views of themselves as a group.
To tackle these questions, we will begin by introducing the history of the Incel movement, focusing specifically on the Incel ideology known as the Black Pill. We will then report results of a survey study conducted with 54 self-identified Incels.
These results of the survey,which focused on mental health, Incel ideology, and radical intentions,will in form the discussion about implications for the broader understanding of the Incel threat and for potentially fruitful intervention directions. The Methods and Results sections detail the findings from an internet survey that was completed by 54 self-identified Incels.
Participants reported high levels of depression (91%), anxiety (85%), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (40%), and autism spectrum disorders (53%). Almost all participants reported a history of being bullied (91%). About half (51%) also reported having been persecuted for their Inceldom. Most Incels rejected violent and illegal intentions as a course of action and did not admire notorious Incels (Minassian, Rodger, Harper-Mercer) for their violent actions. A commitment to Incel ideology predicted activist intentions
4 Mental Illness, Trauma, and Incel Violence
The Incel forums frequently discuss mental health, depression, suicide, and other forms of self-harm, highlighted by the designated sub-categories for these discussions in the Incel parlance (i.e., mentalcel, autiscel, spergcel etc.). Researchers analyzing these forums conclude that the Incel community is rife with depression, low self-esteem, and a resistance to seeking psychological treatment (Romano 2018).
Supporting these observations, Borrell(2020) cites apoll on Incels.co, where roughly 25%of users claim to have autism, and two-thirds of the respondents reported having considered committing suicide. Hoffman, Ware, and Shapiro (2020) found that nearly 70% of Incels.co forum users were depressed and over 25% were on the autism spectrum. Moskalenko et al. (2022) report staggering rates of self-reported depression (95%) and anxiety (93%) in a survey of 274 Incels.
5 Methods
This study is the result of collaboration between the Incel podcast and Parallel Networks, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization (501c3) dedicated to combating polarization, hate and extremism. Incel is a podcast created by Naama Kates for Crawlspace Media.
6 Results
7.3 Implications
Our findings add to recent research (Moskalenko et al. 2022) in suggesting that news stories about Incel killers do not adequately represent the larger Incel population, the majority of which reject violence. Because Incels tend to be reclusive, news stories about Incel killers are often the only information an average person (and even security professionals) have about Incels. This disproportionate representation in the public’s mind makes public perception of Incels vulnerable to “availability heuristic”—a cognitive bias that relies on immediately available examples when considering a topic or population (Schwarz et al. 1991).
Salient and frightening, news stories about Incel killers offer immediately available examples of dangerous Incels, which in turn can increase the perception of threat from the Incel community (Keller, Siegrist, and Gutscher 2006).
However, in this study we observed that the majority of Incels reject violence as a course of action for themselves and denounce violence of the three notorious Incel killers. At the same time, most Incels in this study reported a history of bullying and/or persecution, as well as mental health struggles, including depression, anxiety, and autism spectrum disorders.
Given these parameters, there is little warrant for classifying Incels as a terrorist group based on the action of a tiny minority among them. Instead, the professional community tasked with preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) and mental health professionals should seek to design interventions that would address Incels’ unique psychological needs, which may include social deficits, a history of psychological trauma, and extreme isolation.
Our data did capture a troubling minority of Incels who embrace the most violent manifestations of the Incel subculture, glorifying Incel killers and fantasizing about raping and inflicting violence themselves. The newly validated Incel Radicalization Scale can be a useful measure for early detection of individuals vulnerable to radicalization to violent Incel action.
7.4 Limitations and future directions
One of the limitations of this study is its small number of participants. Studies with bigger samples of Incels should try to replicate our findings to test their reliability.
Another limitation is that participants in this study were self-selected on two different variables: first, they chose to interact with the Incel podcast, and then they chose to connect with Light Upon Light’s interventionists. It is unclear how representative these 54 individuals are of the broader Incel community. Future research should explore whether similar patterns of results can be obtained with other samples of Incels.
Finally, it is possible that a high prevalence of mental health issues discussions on Incel forums creates a kind of “demand characteristic,” normalizing and even encouraging those who wish to belong to the Incel community to express mental health problems. It is important to validate our findings of high rates of mental health problems with interviews or case studies that can establish more objectively whether self-reported mental health problems can be corroborated by official health records or through confirmation from family, teachers, or peers.
B-bas.. stu.. oh wait what do we have here
6.1 Demographics Participants were 54 self-identified Incels, aged between 18 and 48 years old (M=26.9; SD=7.7). Participants’ gender is reported in Table 1.
Table 1: Gender of participants. Note: one participant did not select an answer.
Male Female Prefer not to answer |
52 (98%) 0 (0%) 1 (2%) |
... LGBTQA+cels confirmed lifefuel for @The Grinch 
