Hope, cope, or rope? A qualitative content analysis of what distinguishes incels comments on online forums.

Incels (i.e., involuntary celibates) perceive rejection by women as the main source of their romantic and sexual distress. Research has identified three recurring types of comments in the incelosphere: Hope, Cope and Rope, but little is known about what is distinctive to each one. This study examined the manifestations and constructs potentially conceptually related to each type of comment. A content analysis was conducted on 167 threads (3,234 comments) sampled from Incels.is, Incels.net and r/IncelExit forums using keywords related to Hope (e.g., lifefuel), Cope (e.g., venting) and Rope (e.g., suicidefuel). Hopeful (hope) comments showed optimism (n = 284) and action-oriented self-improvement (n = 617). Mood-management (cope) comments involved avoidance (n = 242) and venting (n = 472). Fatalistic (rope) comments featured pessimism (n = 514), perceived disempowerment (n = 261) and suicidal ideation (n = 115). Positive self-image (n = 160) emerged as a construct potentially related to hopeful comments, whereas negative self-image (n = 381), lack of connection with others (n = 155) and cognitive biases (n = 287) constituted construct potentially related to mood-management and fatalistic comments. This study highlights the heterogeneity of comments observed in the incelosphere and shows that optimism exist, despite common perceptions of uniformly negative or fatalistic comments. Clinical implications of these findings are discussed.