1 in 5 men have the M factor, a newly identified syndrome predicting misogyny and violence

The manosphere may be online, but its influence is showing up in real life.A new study has identified what researchers call the “M factor,” a syndrome categorized by a cluster of attitudes linked to misogyny, male supremacy, violence and opposition to gender equality.“The M factor reflects an attitude that sees ‘true masculinity’ as under threat.

It is associated with notions of male supremacy, a propensity for violence, misogyny, contempt for sexual minorities and opposition to gender equality,” said study leader Denis Ribeaud, a criminologist and sociologist at the Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development at UZH, according to Phys.org.Researchers from the University of Zurich worked in collaboration with Mencare, the umbrella organization of Swiss men’s and fathers’ groups, to survey more than 6000 people ages 16 to 64 across Switzerland about masculinity, gender roles, sexuality, family life, relationships and experiences with violence.Their goals was to examine how ideas about masculinity are evolving as the manosphere — a network of influencers, online communities, and social media channels promoting forms of extreme masculinity and male dominance — continues to grow.The study, the first of its kind in Switzerland, found that many of these attitudes are deeply interconnected.

“Our data show that all these views are closely linked and can be traced back to a common underlying attitude.”Overall, 20% of men surveyed scored high on the M factor scale, putting them at greater risk of problematic or violent behavior.The divide was especially pronounced among young adults, with nearly one in three men ages 18 to 24 falling into the high-scoring category.

Half of those young men said they were concerned that “real men are increasingly being marginalized in society.”Women, on the other hand, were far more likely to hold views rooted in equality.While researchers found that men’s and women’s attitude became somewhat alike with ag...