“This is a political movement, friend”: Why “incels” support violence
Abstract
How do members of extremist groups think about violence conducted by individual members on the group's behalf? We examine the link between extremism‐motivated violence and extremist groups through a case study of misogynist incels, a primarily online community of men who lament their lack of sexual success with women. To learn how misogynist incels talk about mass violence committed by members of their group, we conduct a qualitative content analysis of 3,658 comments relating to the 2018 Toronto van attack, in which self‐declared incel Alek Minassian drove a van into pedestrians, killing 10 and injuring 16. We find overwhelming support among self‐proclaimed incels for the attack and violence more generally. Incels viewed mass violence as instrumental, serving the following four main purposes: garnering increased attention, exacting revenge, reinforcing masculinity, and generating political change. Our findings indicate the need to examine misogynist incels as a potential terrorist group and male supremacism as a basis for terrorism.
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Many incel communities argue that they are entitled to heterosexual sex, and are characterized by misogynistic attitudes and actions toward women.
“However, many incel communities argue that they are entitled to heterosexual sex, and are characterized by misogynistic attitudes and actions toward women (Baele et al., 2019; Gotell & Dutton, 2016; O’Donnell & Shor, 2022).”
From Stochastic Gender-Based Violence: How Incels Justify and Encourage Sexualized Violence Against Women (2025) · cites this paper as O’Donnell & Shor, 2022
Cites
The echo chamber effect on social media
Cinelli, M., De Francisci Morales, G., Galeazzi, A., Quattrociocchi, W., & Starnini, M. (2021) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2023301118 · Cited by 2,092 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The dominance of support for violence in our analysis suggests that the incel community may be operating as an echo chamber, where shared narratives and beliefs are reinforced through repeated interactions with peers who also have similar attitudes (Cinelli et al., 2021).”
BackgroundOverdoing Gender: A Test of the Masculine Overcompensation Thesis
Willer, R., Rogalin, C. L., Conlon, B., & Wojnowicz, M. T. (2013) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/668417 · Cited by 366 · see citing works
From “Incel” to “Saint”: Analyzing the violent worldview behind the 2018 Toronto attack
Baele, S. J., Brace, L., & Coan, T. G. (2021) · Terrorism and Political Violence · doi:10.1080/09546553.2019.1638256 · Cited by 244 · cited 15× · see citing works
“…believe that with the rise of feminism and the women's rights movement, men lost their “rightful entitlement” to dominate women, leading to a new societal order wherein only a small proportion of men gain access to women's bodies (Baele et al., 2019; CBC The Fifth Estate, 2019a; Tolentino, 2018).”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialOnline hatred of women in the Incels.me forum: Linguistic analysis and automatic detection
Jaki, S., De Smedt, T., Gwóźdź, M., Panchal, R., Rossa, A., & De Pauw, G. (2019) · Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict · doi:10.1075/jlac.00026.jak · Cited by 226 · see citing works
An Exploration of the Involuntary Celibate (Incel) Subculture Online
O’Malley, R. L., Holt, K., & Holt, T. J. (2022) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/0886260520959625 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
Taking the black pill: An empirical analysis of the “Incel”.
Glace, A. M., Dover, T. L., & Zatkin, J. G. (2021) · Psychology of Men & Masculinities · doi:10.1037/men0000328 · Cited by 117 · cited 1× · see citing works
“However, incels simultaneously believe that their male status entitles them to sex and to the domination of women, thus performing a “hybrid masculinity” (Ging, 2017; Glace et al., 2021).”
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Chan, E. (2023) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/10778012221125495 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
“Hate speech is defined as communication that seeks to degrade another based on one’s identity or stereotypical characteristics (Nockelby, 2000, as cited in Warner & Hirschberg, 2012).”
BackgroundStochastic Gender-Based Violence: How Incels Justify and Encourage Sexualized Violence Against Women
Gosse, M., Halpin, M., & Maguire, F. (2025) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/10778012241279816 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
“…and gender relations, such that they view it as the right of men to sexually assault women, which buttresses prior research demonstrating incels ’ commitments to violence and male supremacy (Baele et al., 2019; Halpin, 2022; Halpin et al., 2023; O ’ Donnell & Shor, 2022; Tranchese & Sugiura, 2021).”
InfluentialExploring Incel Motivations and the Relationship to Gender-Based Violence: A Scoping Review
Fostier, A., Hallett, N., Jordan, G., & Bradbury-Jones, C. (2026) · Trauma, Violence, & Abuse · doi:10.1177/15248380261460442
- Authors
- O'Donnell, C., & Shor, E.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- McGill University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- O'Donnell, Catharina
- Venue
- The British Journal of Sociology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2022-01-16
- Volume
- 73
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 336-351
- ISSN
- 0007-1315 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-4446
- OpenAlex
- W4205152789
- Cited by
- 105
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 29 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 5
- FWCI
- 24.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- British Journal of Sociology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Populism, Right-Wing Movements
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Islamic Studies and Radicalism
- Keywords
- incels, misogyny, extremist groups, support for violence, terrorism, masculinity, revenge, online communities, political violence
- MeSH terms
- Female, Humans, Male, Violence, Terrorism, Friends
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