MBB Seminar: Mira Lindner

Date: 

Wednesday, March 30, 2022, 12:00pm to 1:00pm

 

Mandemic: Mass Shootings and Suicide as Divergent Behavioral Strategies in Response to Sex-Specific Grievances 

MiraA central, underlying trait of most mass shooters, violent extremists, and terrorists, who are overwhelmingly male, is that they exhibit misogynistic attitudes and a history of violence against women. Over the past few years, “incels” (involuntary celibates) have gathered in online communities to voice their frustration with sexual and romantic rejection, espouse male supremacist attitudes, and justify violence against those who more easily interact with members of the opposite sex. While the views of the incel community are reprehensible, their members also regularly self-loathe, self-harm and, increasingly, take their own lives. But if incels commit either a mass shooting or suicide, what drives these men to choose one behavioral strategy over the other? Grounded in evolutionary psychological perspectives, I posit that mass shootings and suicide emerge as divergent behavioral strategies in response to sex-specific grievances inflicted by females and other males, respectively, and present findings in support of this hypothesis.

The seminar is free to attend and will be held virtually via Zoom. To ensure that you will receive access to the event, register now.