Economic outlook and the gender gap in attitudes about climate change

Abstract

Polling consistently shows that the USA is significantly polarized on the issue of climate change. Economic outlook and gender are frequently identified as two sources of this variation, as Americans often view the climate change issue as a tradeoff between economic and environmental risk, and women tend to express more concern than men about this issue. Much of the existing literature links the two by focusing on the role of economic outlook and worldview differences between genders to explain this gender gap. In short, economic concern overrides environmental concern, and males are more sensitive to economic concern, even with appropriate socioeconomic controls. However, little research has empirically investigated this interplay between gender and economic outlook. Using a large sample survey, this study investigates the relationships between economic outlook, gender, and support for climate change mitigation strategies. Findings suggest that economic outlook has a significant effect, and that it moderates gender effects. We find large gender effects among those who feel most economically vulnerable, but these differences dissipate as economic outlook improves.