Involuntary Celibate (Incel): validation of the Incel Trait Scale (ITS) in the Italian male population

Introduction The term Incel represents the union of the words “INvoluntary” and “CELibates” (involuntary celibate) and it refers to a male phenomenon of discrimination and hate towards female population. In some cases, Incel characterized also by aggressive behaviors and violence acts, due to social and psychological factors. For this reason, it is necessary an accurate evaluation of Incel phenomenon to prevent it. Objectives Therefore, the aims are to validate the Incel Trait Scale (ITS) in the Italian Language, analyze the structure of the scale and adapt it to the Italian population. Methods A total of 1316 Italian cisgender (gender identity matched assigned sex at birth) men participated in the study, they fill out the survey on the online platform QUALTRICS. We administered them a set of questionnaires, with the sociodemographic part and the Italian version of ITS. Results Explorative and Confirmatory Factor Analysis revealed good fit indexes (CFA: χ²/df = 6.375, SRMR = .065, CFI = .885, RMSEA = .070). Also, reliability was good with the Cronbach α coefficient of .887 for Failure factor, .810 for Outcasted factor, and .712 for Enraged factor. Conclusions Incel Trait Scale (ITS) represents the first psychometric tool to evaluate the Incel phenomenon among Italian male population and it is fundamental to prevent and individuate risk factors for the gender violence in terms of discrimination and aggression. Moreover, ITS also permits to better studied the psychopathological factors associated to Involuntary Celibate.