1
|
Costello W, Rolon V, Thomas AG, Schmitt DP. The Mating Psychology of Incels (Involuntary Celibates): Misfortunes, Misperceptions, and Misrepresentations. JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH 2024; 61:989-1000. [PMID: 37676789 DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2023.2248096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/09/2023]
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 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.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- William Costello
- Department of Individual Differences and Evolutionary Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
| | - Vania Rolon
- Centre for Culture and Evolution, Brunel University London
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
2
|
Krumpholz C, Quigley C, Fusani L, Leder H. Vienna Talking Faces (ViTaFa): A multimodal person database with synchronized videos, images, and voices. Behav Res Methods 2024; 56:2923-2940. [PMID: 37950115 PMCID: PMC11133183 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-023-02264-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
Social perception relies on different sensory channels, including vision and audition, which are specifically important for judgements of appearance. Therefore, to understand multimodal integration in person perception, it is important to study both face and voice in a synchronized form. We introduce the Vienna Talking Faces (ViTaFa) database, a high-quality audiovisual database focused on multimodal research of social perception. ViTaFa includes different stimulus modalities: audiovisual dynamic, visual dynamic, visual static, and auditory dynamic. Stimuli were recorded and edited under highly standardized conditions and were collected from 40 real individuals, and the sample matches typical student samples in psychological research (young individuals aged 18 to 45). Stimuli include sequences of various types of spoken content from each person, including German sentences, words, reading passages, vowels, and language-unrelated pseudo-words. Recordings were made with different emotional expressions (neutral, happy, angry, sad, and flirtatious). ViTaFa is freely accessible for academic non-profit research after signing a confidentiality agreement form via https://osf.io/9jtzx/ and stands out from other databases due to its multimodal format, high quality, and comprehensive quantification of stimulus features and human judgements related to attractiveness. Additionally, over 200 human raters validated emotion expression of the stimuli. In summary, ViTaFa provides a valuable resource for investigating audiovisual signals of social perception.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christina Krumpholz
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010, Vienna, Austria
- Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Cliodhna Quigley
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Leonida Fusani
- Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Helmut Leder
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010, Vienna, Austria.
- Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Apostolou M. Involuntary singlehood and its causes: The effects of flirting capacity, mating effort, choosiness and capacity to perceive signals of interest. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.110782] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
|