Jan Christoffer Andersen has researched incels at the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law.
“The term incels refers to men who are involuntarily celibate, but it's not restricted to one group of people. They often come from markedly different backgrounds. Some embrace ‘incel’ as a subcultural identity with misogynistic views, while others use the term to describe their life situation,” he says.
The phenomenon mainly involves young, disgruntled men – often referred to as ‘losers’ – who spend their time alone in basement flats and feel contempt for women.
Online, they find a community where they can share their thoughts and experiences.
New research shows that this community is more diverse than many believe.
Who are incels?
In an age marked by complex gender norms, the incel community offers a space to explore alternative and oppositional masculine identities.
“The commonly held notion of incels is partly true, but it does not only apply to young men. The core demographic is between 18 and 30 years, but there are younger and older participants,” says Andersen.
Some people disclose their age online. Others can be identified as belonging to a certain age group based on how they write.
Many who have heard of incels often imagine people who commit violence and mass murder.
Not all are equally extreme
“Elliot Roger, for example, carried out a mass murder in California in 2014, and has attained saint-like status among incels. He posted an autobiographical manifesto and several videos online before the attack, which drew attention to the incel phenomenon and attracted more members to the forums,” Andersen explains.
However, Andersen points out that many people find meaning and a sense of virtual community in these spaces, without sharing Roger’s extreme views.
It is therefore important to avoid a one-sided focus on violence in order to understand the motivations of those involved in incel communities.
They promote hatred of women and anti-feminism
The incel environment operates within a larger online environment often referred to as the manosphere. This can be described as a loose network of forums and interest groups focused on men’s issues and masculinity. The members are known for promoting misogyny and anti-feminism.
What many in the manosphere have in common is that they see women as the source of the problems they face in life.
Incels are part of this sphere, but differ from other groups by creating their own subcultural environment and worldview linked to their identity as involuntary celibates.
Online, within the forums Andersen has studied, there is a widespread belief that incels are largely excluded from the dating market. They believe that women prefer to date men with higher status or greater income.
The pursuit of status
The inspiration for these ideas comes from The Matrix films, where the choice between a blue or red pill symbolises different perceptions of reality.
Choosing the blue pill means living in naive denial of how the world truly works, while choosing the red pill represents an awakening to the actual nature of reality.
For incels, this means recognising that women often select men based on looks, money, and/or social status.
In this worldview, which is often promoted in the manosphere, many men believe they can improve their position by working out, dressing better, and learning pick-up techniques.
"Online forums can serve as a form of self-help groups wherein experiences and advice are shared. At the same time, incels associate this worldview with misogynistic forms of hypermasculinity,” Andersen explains.
The pursuit of women therefore becomes a status symbol rather than a genuine search for a partner.
They have very high standards for women
“The woman becomes a tool for the men’s self-image, more of a prize or goal to be achieved, rather than an actual partner. As a result, they lose the human dimension of what it means to search for someone with whom to share your life and form a romantic relationship," the researcher says.
Andersen elaborates that some incels try to use manipulative pick-up techniques inspired by pick-up artists (PUAs) to get laid, although the incel community mostly views these techniques as ineffective.
Andersen points out that this becomes problematic – and not least ironic. While the men discuss how women have such high standards, they themselves hold women to high standards.
“Incels complain that ordinary people have far too high standards when it comes to appearance and dating, but they themselves always talk about attractive women. They would never date someone who, in their eyes, is ‘ugly’, but when they realise that others – in the broader society – are doing the same, they become extremely frustrated and angry,” says Andersen.
The black pill
Andersen says that the ideas and reflections within incel communities have changed. Instead of the red pill, they now talk about the black pill. It represents a fatalistic view of one’s life situation.
Incels place themselves at the bottom of what they call the ‘pyramid of attraction’, a hierarchical system that ranks traits considered attractive. In this pyramid, traits such as appearance, ethnicity, and social and economic status are valued more highly than personality.
“Men believe they lack the genes women seek. Thus, they perceive it as impossible to improve their ‘sexual market value’ (SMV),” Andersen explains.
They are also more negative towards society in general
Online forums have also evolved from being platforms for sharing pick-up techniques into spaces that express a more negative attitude towards the world, women, and society in general.
The men also associate biological and genetic factors with attractiveness.
Incels have a clearly defined worldview where everything and everyone is assigned a label. For instance, they refer to attractive girls as Stacys and sexually active men as Chads.
These men also use a lot of derogatory language about women, and racist terminology is common. And although the community is ethnically diverse, the subculture is permeated by narratives of white supremacy.
Is this development dangerous?
Although few incels actually commit violent acts, there are parts of the incel community that glorify mass murderers and portray them as martyrs. This can both motivate and legitimise violence, the researcher explains.
“The incel community can be dangerous, but the group is far from homogeneous. In my research, I have used narrative criminology to examine how narratives shape and influence behaviour. I have looked at how these narratives both motivate and prevent crime or violence,” says Andersen.
On the other hand, there are also members of the subculture who view violence as irrational.
Negative ideas can develop and intensify
They deliberately distance themselves from perpetrators of violence to uphold their image as non-violent individuals. These members view themselves as rational actors and observers of the dating market.
By distancing themselves from violence, they also believe they are distancing themselves from responsibility for violence carried out by individuals linked to the incel community. For these people, violence is not a solution to their problems.
It's also important to note that negative ideas do not necessarily need to be present when someone becomes part of the incel community. Negative ideas can develop and be reinforced in closed forums.
Still, Andersen considers it important to recognise the nuances within the groups.
They are also ruthless towards each other
They do not only speak disparagingly about women but can also be ruthless towards one another.
The incel community adheres to a clear subcultural logic, where the more socially excluded or unattractive you are in mainstream society, the higher your status is within the subculture.
Within the forums, they discuss what it means to be an authentic incel. They use terms such as truecel, volcel (voluntary incel), fakecel (fake incel), and femcel (female incel).
“In my research, I have observed a hierarchy within the community that means people who already feel marginalised by society can also risk being marginalised by other incels,” says Andersen.
Incels see themselves as victims
There are examples of boys as young as 15 posting that they have never had a girlfriend or kissed anyone, only to receive comments from others telling them ‘it's over,' and they should ‘just give up.’
Andersen refers to a number of recurring narratives that are used, such as hope, cope – to deal with the situation – or rope, which refers to suicide.
If there is no hope, you have to choose whether to cope, for example by using pills or alcohol, or alternatively choose rope.
"These narratives are prominent within the incel community and construct a worldview that explains how the world operates – and how participants perceive themselves as victims within the society they inhabit,” Andersen explains.
About the doctoral thesis
Jan Christoffer Andersen defended his doctoral thesis Boundaries of Online Misogyny: Exploring Identities and Narratives in the Incel Subculture at the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law on 24 June 2025.
The thesis examines incels as a deviant subculture. The research reveals that the incel subculture spans a spectrum of identities and perceptions. Participants vary in their involvement over time: Some embrace ‘incel’ as a subcultural identity with misogynistic views, while others use the term to describe their life situation and are therefore less committed to the community. It is therefore important to avoid a one-sided focus on violence in order to understand the motivations of those who participate in incel communities.?
Andersen is a researcher at the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NKVTS).