Exploring Incel Motivations and the Relationship to Gender-Based Violence: A Scoping Review

This scoping review explores the beliefs, motivations and needs of individuals involved in incel communities, especially in the context of increasing online hate speech and violence against women. Incels, who belong to the ‘manosphere’, are characterised by their violent tendencies toward both women and men and often believe that women’s sexual freedom has negatively affected society (Tomkinson et al., 2020). The review involved a comprehensive search across multiple databases, including MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest Central, EMBASE and PsycINFO, which yielded 1,028 articles. After rigorous screenings conducted by the primary researcher and a second reviewer, 47 articles were included for analysis, as detailed in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and extension of Meta-analyses for scoping reviews Flowchart. This analysis was guided by the patterns, advances, gaps, evidence for practice and research recommendations (PAGER) framework (Bradbury-Jones et al., 2022), which consists of five elements: patterns, advances, gaps, evidence for practice and research recommendations. From the analysis of evidence, three key patterns emerged: Incel worldview, identity, beliefs and behaviour; Social, gender norms and racial influences; and Psychological and mental health influences and de-radicalisation. The findings of this review significantly enhance our understanding of the grievances, vulnerabilities and psychosocial needs of individuals who self-identify as incels. This knowledge is crucial for informing prevention strategies against incel-related and misogynistic violence. Moreover, the scoping review highlights significant gaps in the current literature and identifies potential areas for future research. It emphasises the necessity for further exploration, particularly regarding the roles of social norms, loneliness, social isolation, rejection and their connections to incelism.