Over the past several years, an online community of self‐described “incels,” referring to involuntary celibates, has emerged and gained increased public attention. Central to the guiding incel ideology and master narrative are violent misogynistic beliefs and an attitude of entitlement, based on male gender and social positioning, with respect to obtaining desired and often illusory sexual experiences. While violence and hate speech within the incel community are both common, there exists a notable subset of incels who have been willing to act on those violent beliefs through the commission of acts of multiple murder. This study explores the demographic, cognitive, and other characteristics of seven self‐identified incels who have attempted and/or successfully completed homicide. The findings suggest that although self‐perceptions tend to reflect either grandiosity or self‐deprecation, homicidal incels share similar demographic characteristics and dense common clusters of neutralization techniques, cognitive distortions, and criminal thinking errors.
Stalking is a complex issue involving multiple behaviors and interactions between the stalker and their target. Research has typically involved grouping risk behaviors related to stalking; however, the research question in the current research was to what extent a temporal method would allow investigators to map the dynamics of stalking. Behavior Sequence Analysis is a form of systems analysis that examines sequences of events over time, providing statistically significant results from complex real-world data. The Behavior Sequence Analysis method was applied to 39 participants' detailed accounts of stalking written in online forums. The study provides illustration of the antecedents of stalking and how it may initiate and develop through to end of contact. Both stalker behavior and decisions made by victim were included in the models. The results show multiple patterns of stalkers' behaviors; however, the results also clearly show that victims need not perform many behaviors for stalkers to continue with their actions. A main finding was how many behavior transitions occurred before victims felt a significant problem. A large number of participants indicated that they (repeatedly) reported their case of stalking to police and authorities;
Self-identified involuntary celibates, or “incels,” have congregated online in recent years
as a way to discuss and promote a particular patriarchal and blatantly misogynist ideology that blames women, specifically, and feminist society, broadly, for the unmet sexual desires of men who feel entitled, based on gender, to sexual experiences. Thus, incel ideology is an obvious example of severe sex-negativity. While incel ideology is commonly filled with hate speech and threats of violence, there are very few, fortunately, who go on to commit extreme violence. The present study examines feelings of hopelessness and helplessness among seven incel offenders who committed or clearly attempted to commit multiple murder. Although these offenders invariably felt hopelessness and helplessness across major areas of life functioning, they grossly misattributed blame to women for their overall misery. Findings provide valuable insights into the psychology of an extreme form of sex-negativity that extends a mindset of revenge rape to pseudocommando-style mass murder.
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