#660 William Costello: The Psychology of Involuntary Celibates (Incels), and Modern Mating
RECORDED ON JUNE 17th 2022.
William Costello finished his MSc in Psychology: Culture and Evolution at Brunel University London in 2021. The topic of his thesis was incels. Later this year he will join Dr. David Buss’s Evolutionary Psychology lab at the University of Texas at Austin, as a PhD student. He will retain an honorary research assistant role at Swansea University. He writes opinion pieces on a range of cultural issues including gender and identity politics, and his work has been featured in Quillette and Areo, and his academic research has been presented at several academic conferences around the world.
In this episode, we talk about the psychology of incels, and modern mating. We first define incels, and go through their psychological traits. We talk about their mental wellbeing, and their self-perceptions of their own mate value. We discuss possible psychotherapeutic approaches, and singlehood. We talk about how people should view incels, misrepresentations in the media, and the advice they get online. We then get into some issues with modern mating, how it is hard for both men and women, and potential solutions.
Time Links:
Intro
What are incels?
Incels in modern society
The psychological traits of incels
Mental wellbeing
Self-perceptions of mate value
Psychotherapeutic approaches to helping incels
Singlehood
Being more empathetic toward incels
How incels are dealt with in the media
Do incels get good advice online?
Evolutionary psychology, and the best advice for incels
Alternatives
Modern mating, and the “mating crisis”
Are incels right about their complaints?
Monogamy and polygamy
Solutions for modern mating
Follow William’s work!
Follow William’s work:
Website: https://bit.ly/3owcCRA
ResearchGate profile: https://bit.ly/3bkctcX
Articles at Areo Magazine: https://bit.ly/3slLJko
Medium page: https://bit.ly/3grXAYD
Twitter handle: @CostelloWilliam