Teenage boys who follow prominent online personalities associated with the “manosphere” are more likely to support traditional beliefs about manhood, such as the idea that men should hide their emotions, remain dominant, and reject anything considered feminine. For the two best-known figures, Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson, this pattern held even after accounting for the gender messages boys hear at home and how masculine they already perceive themselves to be, according to research published in Psychology of Men & Masculinities.
The term “manosphere” describes a loose network of websites, podcasts, and social media accounts focused on male interests, often while framing women or modern feminism as threats to men’s status. Content creators in this digital space, frequently referred to as “manfluencers,” often promote hegemonic masculinity. This concept refers to a culturally idealized form of manhood characterized by power, physical toughness, emotional detachment, and the subordination of femininity.
Earlier research had begun tracking the reach of these online ideas. For instance, a 2024 study that included focus groups with 13- and 14-year-old boys in London found that some were drawn to Andrew Tate, who paired anti-feminist commentary with advice about dating and making money, and some saw him as funny or authentic. Around the same time, a 2024 study of young men in Sweden found that those who followed more manfluencers were more likely to hold dehumanizing views of women. A 2025 Common Sense Media report, which was not peer reviewed, found that boys who saw more masculinity-focused content online tended to hold more traditional views, but it did not ask about specific figures or parental messages.
Despite these insights, little quantitative evidence existed about what leads younger adolescent boys to engage with these figures in the first place, or how this media consumption interacts with the guidance they receive from their families. The new research was led by Erica Scharrer, a professor of communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and author of Children, Media, and Technology: Access, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and co-author of Quantitative Research Methods in Communication: The Power of Numbers for Social Justice. She worked with University of Michigan psychologists L. Monique Ward and Brenda L. Volling to understand the real-world dynamics driving boys toward these online figures.
“Andrew Tate and ‘the manosphere’ had been in the headlines for quite a while,” Scharrer told PsyPost. “I noticed that even though some of the concern expressed in news and popular discourse was about the potential of the manosphere or ‘manfluencers’ to influence adolescent boys, there were no quantitative studies on the topic.”
“I approached L. Monique Ward–who is one of the premier scholars of adolescents, masculinities, and media–to see if she wanted to study the phenomenon with me, and she introduced me to another stellar scholar, Brenda L. Volling, who has deep expertise in gendered dynamics in family contexts,” Scharrer explained. “Together, our team designed and carried out this study. While we were writing our paper (but well after we collected our data), the Netflix show, Adolescence, put the issue of the manosphere and adolescent boys further into the spotlight.”
The 2025 Netflix drama depicts a teenage boy, immersed in manosphere content, who is accused of murdering a female classmate. To explore how real-world adolescents interact with these online communities, the scientists surveyed a diverse group of 601 adolescent boys aged 13 to 17 living across the United States. Participants were recruited through online panels managed by Qualtrics, with parent consent and youth assent obtained before the teens completed the questions privately on their own mobile devices. The sample was balanced across different age groups, racial backgrounds, and geographic regions to roughly match national population proportions.
To measure engagement with the manosphere, the authors took two distinct approaches. First, they directly asked boys how often they followed two prominent online commentators: former kickboxer Andrew Tate, who has been banned from several social media platforms for hate speech, and clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson. Second, the authors asked participants to write in their favorite celebrity and top three favorite social media stars, later cross-referencing those names against a list of 31 manosphere-linked figures the researchers compiled from news and scholarly sources.
The boys also completed established psychological questionnaires. These included scales assessing traditional masculinity beliefs, which measure the degree to which an individual believes men should avoid showing vulnerability, remain emotionally detached, use physical toughness, and avoid feminine behaviors. Participants also reported the kinds of gender lessons they received from their caregivers, answered how masculine they perceived themselves to be on a 1-to-5 scale, and completed assessments of social support, depressive symptoms, and hostility.
The survey revealed that about 33.2 percent of the boys reported following Andrew Tate at least a little, while 11.6 percent reported following Jordan Peterson. In contrast, when asked open-ended questions about their absolute favorite personalities, only about 9 percent wrote in a figure associated with the manosphere, most commonly naming mainstream creators, musicians, or athletes instead. The authors described it as encouraging that only a small share of participants named a manosphere figure among their favorites.
Boys who expressed an affinity for manosphere personalities reported receiving more messages from their parents encouraging traditional gender expectations and physical toughness. They also rated their own personal masculinity higher compared to their peers. However, they were not statistically different in terms of age, racial background, total weekly time spent watching YouTube, or reported feelings of hostility, depression, or perceived support from family and friends. The authors note that this runs counter to the idea that isolated or distressed boys are the ones who turn to the manosphere.
Before any statistical controls, all three measures of manosphere engagement were linked to stronger traditional masculinity beliefs on every scale. For example, boys who named a manosphere figure as a favorite averaged 4.12 on a 7-point measure of traditional masculinity beliefs, compared with 3.39 for other boys.
When running statistical models that controlled for age, self-perceived masculinity, and parental messages, the authors found that following Andrew Tate remained a positive predictor across every measure of traditional masculinity ideology. Following Jordan Peterson also predicted higher support for male toughness, dominance, and relationship-specific masculinity norms, though it did not predict anti-femininity beliefs. The authors suggest this may reflect Peterson’s emphasis on self-improvement rather than overtly anti-women messaging. Having an affinity for manosphere figures on the open-ended list predicted beliefs favoring physical toughness, but was not related to emotional detachment or anti-femininity after accounting for the other variables.
Parental messages about being big and tough were the strongest predictor in every model, carrying roughly two to three times the weight of following Tate, and following Peterson was a weaker predictor than following Tate. Younger boys also tended to hold more traditional beliefs than older boys. Taken together, the predictors in these models explained roughly 37 to 44 percent of the variation in the boys’ overall traditional masculinity scores.
“Our study cannot show causality, but our data do show that in our sample of teen boys, following manosphere influencers online goes hand in hand with having narrow, stereotypical conceptions of masculinity,” Scharrer noted.
The findings echo that Swedish study, which PsyPost covered in 2025, although it measured misogyny and dehumanization of women among young adult men rather than traditional masculinity beliefs among American teenage boys.
As with all research, there are some caveats to consider. The study relies on survey responses gathered at a single point in time, meaning the scientists cannot determine whether watching these creators causes boys to adopt traditional beliefs, or if boys who already favor traditional roles simply seek out compatible media. It is plausible that both processes occur together, reinforcing one another over time.
Additionally, the authors noted that endorsing masculine traits like emotional stoicism and strength is not the same as expressing outright hostility toward women, an outcome this particular project did not directly evaluate. The researchers also pointed out that online creators within the manosphere vary widely in tone and focus, ranging from financial self-help to overt anti-feminism, meaning adolescent viewers may be reacting to very different messages depending on whom they watch. The survey also recorded whether boys followed these figures but not why, so some may have been watching out of curiosity or skepticism rather than agreement, and the 33 percent figure includes boys who said they followed Tate only “a little.”
Recruiting participants through online survey panels can also introduce selection biases, as families who join these panels may not reflect the entire adolescent population. Looking ahead, the authors recommend long-term studies that track the same boys over time, incorporate direct measures of misogynistic attitudes, and explore the specific reasons why teens choose to follow these online figures.
The study, “Following Manosphere Influencers and Endorsement of Traditional Masculinity Beliefs Among Adolescent Boys,” was authored by Erica Scharrer, L. Monique Ward, and Brenda L. Volling.
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