{ "source": "Manosphere Cult", "url": "https://manospherecult.com", "description": "The statistics the manosphere cites most, each with the verdict on the figure and the claim it supports. Licensed CC BY 4.0: attribute to manospherecult.com and preserve the verdict label.", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "generated_at": "2026-10-19", "count": 36, "rows": [ { "slug": "age-preference-asymmetry", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/age-preference-asymmetry", "title": "Men of all ages tend to prefer women in their twenties, and on average say they'd consider partners as young as about 21", "summary": "Across ages, heterosexual men tend to state a preference for women in their twenties, on average considering partners as young as about 21 — a real age-preference asymmetry. But stated preference is not behaviour, and average attractiveness declines gradually rather than collapsing at a \"wall\".", "stat_value": "~21", "verdict": "misleading", "source_claim": "is-the-wall-real" }, { "slug": "algorithm-misogyny-amplification", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/algorithm-misogyny-amplification", "title": "A test TikTok feed went from 13% to 56% misogynistic content in 5 days", "summary": "A controlled UCL/Kent audit found a TikTok feed set up as a teenage boy climbed from 13% to 56% misogynistic recommended videos within five days, evidence that the recommender amplifies the content rather than the viewer seeking it.", "stat_value": "13% to 56%", "verdict": "partly-supported", "source_claim": "does-watching-andrew-tate-cause-misogyny" }, { "slug": "alpha-wolf-myth", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/alpha-wolf-myth", "title": "Wild wolf packs have no 'alpha' — they're families led by breeding parents", "summary": "The \"alpha wolf\" that the manosphere cites as proof of a natural male hierarchy is a myth: wild wolf packs are families led by a breeding pair, not dominance arenas, and the biologist who popularised the term spent his later career rejecting it.", "stat_value": "A myth (author repudiated it)", "verdict": "misleading", "source_claim": "do-alpha-males-exist" }, { "slug": "body-count-divorce-risk", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/body-count-divorce-risk", "title": "Premarital sex only with the future husband carries no elevated divorce risk", "summary": "In nationally representative U.S. survey data, women whose premarital sex was limited to the man they married were at no elevated risk of divorce, and the link between partner count and divorce is non-linear rather than a simple more-is-worse line.", "stat_value": "No elevated risk", "verdict": "misleading", "source_claim": "is-body-count-important" }, { "slug": "college-degree-gender-gap", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/college-degree-gender-gap", "title": "Among young US adults, 47% of women vs 37% of men hold a degree", "summary": "Among Americans aged 25–34, 47% of women hold a bachelor's degree versus 37% of men — a real, large education gap favouring women. But \"the system is rigged against boys\" is an unmeasured motive the attainment gap alone doesn't establish.", "stat_value": "47% vs 37%", "verdict": "partly-supported", "source_claim": "do-boys-fall-behind-in-school" }, { "slug": "contact-sexual-violence-gap", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/contact-sexual-violence-gap", "title": "Contact sexual violence by a partner — 19.7% of women vs 4.4% of men", "summary": "US national data (CDC NISVS) show sexual and severe intimate-partner violence fall far more heavily on women — about 1 in 5 women report contact sexual violence by a partner versus roughly 1 in 23 men — the asymmetry the \"DV is 50/50\" claim leaves out.", "stat_value": "19.7% vs 4.4%", "verdict": "partly-supported", "source_claim": "do-women-commit-half-of-domestic-violence" }, { "slug": "custodial-parents-mothers", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/custodial-parents-mothers", "title": "About 82% of custodial parents are mothers", "summary": "US Census data show most custodial parents are mothers — a real disparity that fathers'-rights arguments point to. But it reflects the whole population of arrangements (mostly private agreements tracking caregiving), and mother-sole custody has been falling toward shared custody.", "stat_value": "82.2%", "verdict": "partly-supported", "source_claim": "are-family-courts-biased-against-fathers" }, { "slug": "dark-triad-attraction", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/dark-triad-attraction", "title": "Dark-triad traits are linked to short-term mating, not long-term relationships", "summary": "In the study the \"women want jerks\" claim leans on, dark-triad traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy) were associated with short-term, casual mating but not with long-term mating — and mostly as a male strategy, not a female preference for cruelty.", "stat_value": "Short-term only", "verdict": "misleading", "source_claim": "do-women-prefer-jerks-over-nice-guys" }, { "slug": "empathy-gap-perceived-harm", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/empathy-gap-perceived-harm", "title": "Identical harm is judged more severe when the victim is a woman", "summary": "Experimental and review research finds that identical harm is judged more severe and less acceptable when the victim is a woman than a man, with people responding more protectively toward women and more harshly toward men.", "stat_value": "Judged more severe", "verdict": "partly-supported", "source_claim": "is-the-gender-empathy-gap-real" }, { "slug": "false-rape-report-rate", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/false-rape-report-rate", "title": "False rape reports are roughly 2–8%, not 40–50%", "summary": "Methodologically rigorous research converges on a false-report rate of about 2–8% (5.9% in the decade-long Lisak study) — far below the \"40–50%\" the manosphere cites, which conflates unproven cases with proven-false ones.", "stat_value": "2–8%", "verdict": "misleading", "source_claim": "how-common-are-false-rape-accusations" }, { "slug": "fatherlessness-crime-risk", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/fatherlessness-crime-risk", "title": "Much of the incarceration risk linked to father absence traces to poverty and other disadvantages, not fatherlessness itself", "summary": "Boys in father-absent homes do face elevated incarceration risk, but a sizable portion of that risk is attributable to poverty, teen motherhood, low parental education and racial inequality rather than father absence itself.", "stat_value": "Sizable share confounded", "verdict": "partly-supported", "source_claim": "does-fatherlessness-cause-crime" }, { "slug": "height-mating-preference", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/height-mating-preference", "title": "Height plays only a modest role in actual couple formation", "summary": "Across real UK couples, height explains only a modest amount of who actually pairs with whom — a correlation of about r = .18 — not the absolute filter the manosphere describes.", "stat_value": "r = .18", "verdict": "misleading", "source_claim": "do-women-only-want-tall-men" }, { "slug": "incel-attack-deaths", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/incel-attack-deaths", "title": "About 59 people have been killed in incel-linked attacks", "summary": "Plan International UK reports that about 59 people worldwide have been killed in ideologically motivated attacks by incel community members.", "stat_value": "~59", "verdict": "partly-supported", "source_claim": "are-incels-a-terror-threat" }, { "slug": "male-circumcision-hiv", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/male-circumcision-hiv", "title": "Medical male circumcision lowers heterosexual HIV risk by about 60%", "summary": "Three randomized trials found medical male circumcision reduces heterosexual HIV acquisition by about 60%, and WHO/UNAIDS recommend it — a documented health benefit that distinguishes it from female genital mutilation, which WHO says has \"no health benefits\".", "stat_value": "60%", "verdict": "misleading", "source_claim": "is-male-circumcision-genital-mutilation" }, { "slug": "male-friendlessness-rise", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/male-friendlessness-rise", "title": "The share of US men with no close friends rose from 3% to 15%", "summary": "The share of US men reporting no close friends rose from 3% in 1990 to 15% in 2021 — a roughly five-fold rise — though headline loneliness measures still show men and women at broadly equal levels.", "stat_value": "3% to 15%", "verdict": "partly-supported", "source_claim": "is-there-a-male-loneliness-epidemic" }, { "slug": "male-suicide-rate-gap", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/male-suicide-rate-gap", "title": "US men die by suicide about four times as often as women", "summary": "In the United States men die by suicide at nearly four times the rate of women — a large, persistent sex gap in suicide deaths.", "stat_value": "~4x", "verdict": "partly-supported", "source_claim": "is-male-suicide-ignored" }, { "slug": "marriage-and-mortality", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/marriage-and-mortality", "title": "Married people die at lower rates — and it doesn't vary by gender", "summary": "A meta-analysis of 250,000+ people found married people had a mortality relative risk of 0.88 versus the unmarried — a benefit that \"did not vary by gender\". So \"men are healthier single\" is the opposite of what the outcome data show.", "stat_value": "RR 0.88", "verdict": "misleading", "source_claim": "is-marriage-a-bad-deal-for-men" }, { "slug": "mate-preference-status-gap", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/mate-preference-status-gap", "title": "Across 37 cultures, women rated a mate's financial prospects higher than men did — but the gap shrinks with equality", "summary": "In a study of 10,047 people across 37 cultures, women on average weighted a partner's earning capacity and financial prospects more than men did. It is a real average sex difference in stated preference, and it narrows as societies become more gender-equal.", "stat_value": "37 cultures", "verdict": "misleading", "source_claim": "is-hypergamy-universal" }, { "slug": "mewing-jawline-evidence", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/mewing-jawline-evidence", "title": "No clinical evidence that mewing reshapes an adult's jawline", "summary": "A 2025 systematic review that screened over 10,000 papers found only sparse, anecdotal evidence on mewing, and the American Association of Orthodontists says there is no research showing it benefits your jawline.", "stat_value": "No clinical evidence", "verdict": "misleading", "source_claim": "does-mewing-actually-change-your-jawline" }, { "slug": "nofap-testosterone-retracted", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/nofap-testosterone-retracted", "title": "The viral \"45% testosterone in 7 days\" study was retracted", "summary": "The 2003 study behind the viral \"45% testosterone in seven days\" figure — a peak of 145.7% of baseline in 28 volunteers — was retracted in 2021, and the headline statistic now rests on a withdrawn paper.", "stat_value": "Retracted", "verdict": "false", "source_claim": "does-nofap-boost-testosterone" }, { "slug": "online-dating-desirability-gap", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/online-dating-desirability-gap", "title": "Online daters pursue partners about 25% more desirable than themselves", "summary": "A large study of online dating found a pronounced desirability hierarchy, with both men and women messaging partners about 25% more desirable than themselves. The market is steep and competitive — but it's an emergent pattern both sexes create, not a system \"rigged\" against men.", "stat_value": "~25%", "verdict": "partly-supported", "source_claim": "is-online-dating-rigged-against-men" }, { "slug": "partner-violence-injury-gap", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/partner-violence-injury-gap", "title": "62% of those injured by a partner are women", "summary": "In the largest meta-analysis of partner aggression, women were slightly more likely to use a physical act — but men were more likely to cause injury, and 62% of those injured by a partner were women. Symmetry in acts, asymmetry in harm.", "stat_value": "62%", "verdict": "partly-supported", "source_claim": "do-women-commit-half-of-domestic-violence" }, { "slug": "paternity-discrepancy-rate", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/paternity-discrepancy-rate", "title": "The general-population paternity-discrepancy rate is about 3.7%", "summary": "The most-cited review of paternal discrepancy found a median rate of 3.7% (range 0.8–30%). The \"10–30%\" figure the manosphere quotes comes from samples of men who already doubted paternity and sought a test — not the general population.", "stat_value": "3.7%", "verdict": "misleading", "source_claim": "is-paternity-fraud-10-to-30-percent" }, { "slug": "porn-erectile-dysfunction-evidence", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/porn-erectile-dysfunction-evidence", "title": "Systematic review finds little or no evidence that pornography use causes erectile dysfunction", "summary": "A 2019 integrative review of observational studies found little or no evidence of a causal relationship between erectile dysfunction and how often men use pornography, and concluded that causation cannot be assessed from the available cross-sectional and case-report data.", "stat_value": "Little/no causal evidence", "verdict": "misleading", "source_claim": "does-porn-cause-erectile-dysfunction" }, { "slug": "raw-gender-pay-gap", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/raw-gender-pay-gap", "title": "Women earn about 83 cents to the male dollar (raw, unadjusted)", "summary": "Women working full time in the US earn roughly 83 cents for every dollar men earn, but this is the raw, unadjusted figure and not a same-job pay-discrimination measure.", "stat_value": "~83 cents", "verdict": "misleading", "source_claim": "is-the-gender-pay-gap-a-myth" }, { "slug": "red-pill-radicalization-risk", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/red-pill-radicalization-risk", "title": "Even among incels, most are non-violent — only a minority endorse violence", "summary": "In a survey of more than 250 self-identified incels — the most extreme wing of the red-pill world — the majority were non-violent and did not approve of violence, while a minority of self-described staunch misogynists were likely to endorse a desire to commit violence.", "stat_value": "Majority non-violent", "verdict": "misleading", "source_claim": "are-most-red-pill-followers-dangerous" }, { "slug": "sentence-length-gap", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/sentence-length-gap", "title": "Men receive markedly longer federal sentences than women for similar crimes", "summary": "In the most detailed study of U.S. federal criminal cases, being male is associated with roughly a 63% increase in sentence length, even after controlling for the offence and criminal history.", "stat_value": "~63%", "verdict": "supported", "source_claim": "do-men-get-longer-sentences-for-the-same-crime" }, { "slug": "soy-and-testosterone", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/soy-and-testosterone", "title": "Soy does not lower men's testosterone", "summary": "A meta-analysis pooling dozens of clinical trials concluded that neither soy nor isoflavones affect male reproductive hormones, including testosterone — directly contradicting the \"soyboy\" claim at the centre of the manosphere's testosterone panic.", "stat_value": "No effect", "verdict": "misleading", "source_claim": "is-testosterone-collapsing" }, { "slug": "sperm-count-decline", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/sperm-count-decline", "title": "Sperm concentration fell about 52% between 1973 and 2011", "summary": "The largest meta-analysis of the question found sperm concentration among Western men declined by 52.4% between 1973 and 2011 — a real, ongoing fall, though its cause is unresolved and the \"spermageddon\" framing overstates it.", "stat_value": "−52%", "verdict": "supported", "source_claim": "is-sperm-count-declining" }, { "slug": "tate-reach-at-ban", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/tate-reach-at-ban", "title": "Andrew Tate hashtags had 14.1 billion TikTok views at his ban", "summary": "When TikTok, Meta and YouTube removed Andrew Tate's accounts in August 2022, videos under the #AndrewTate hashtag had already been viewed 14.1 billion times on TikTok.", "stat_value": "14.1bn", "verdict": "partly-supported", "source_claim": "does-deplatforming-work" }, { "slug": "tinder-match-gap", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/tinder-match-gap", "title": "On Tinder, male profiles were liked far less often than female profiles", "summary": "In a Tinder experiment using curated stock profiles, male profiles matched on just 0.6 per cent of the users they liked while female profiles matched at 10.5 per cent — a roughly seventeen-fold gap, with nearly all matches coming from men.", "stat_value": "0.6% vs 10.5%", "verdict": "misleading", "source_claim": "is-the-80-20-rule-of-dating-true" }, { "slug": "women-initiate-divorces", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/women-initiate-divorces", "title": "Women initiate about 69% of divorces", "summary": "The best nationally representative U.S. panel finds women initiated about 69% of divorces — but the same data show the gap vanishes for unmarried couples, so it points at marriage as an institution rather than female nature.", "stat_value": "~69%", "verdict": "supported", "source_claim": "do-women-initiate-70-percent-of-divorces" }, { "slug": "women-undergrad-majority", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/women-undergrad-majority", "title": "Women are about 58% of US undergraduates", "summary": "In fall 2021 women made up 58% of US undergraduate enrollment — 8.9 million women against 6.5 million men — a solid federal figure, though the number documents the gap without identifying any cause behind it.", "stat_value": "58%", "verdict": "supported", "source_claim": "do-women-now-outnumber-men-in-college" }, { "slug": "womens-happiness-decline", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/womens-happiness-decline", "title": "Women's self-reported happiness fell over ~35 years, both absolutely and relative to men", "summary": "A well-known economics study found that US women's subjective well-being declined over roughly 35 years, both absolutely and relative to men, even as their objective circumstances improved. The authors present it as a paradox and do not attribute the decline to feminism.", "stat_value": "Declined, absolutely & vs men", "verdict": "partly-supported", "source_claim": "has-feminism-made-women-unhappy" }, { "slug": "workplace-fatalities-men", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/workplace-fatalities-men", "title": "Men are about 92% of US workplace deaths", "summary": "In the 2024 US Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, men were roughly 92% of the 5,070 workplace deaths, while women were 8.1% (413), confirming that men do almost all the dying on the job.", "stat_value": "~92%", "verdict": "supported", "source_claim": "do-men-do-almost-all-the-dangerous-jobs" }, { "slug": "young-men-single", "url": "https://manospherecult.com/research/statistics/young-men-single", "title": "63% of young US men are single, vs 34% of young women", "summary": "In a July 2022 Pew Research Center survey, 63% of US men under 30 described themselves as single, compared with 34% of women in the same age group.", "stat_value": "63%", "verdict": "partly-supported", "source_claim": "are-63-percent-of-young-men-single" } ] }