Gender differences in public attitudes toward the Gulf War: A test of competing hypotheses

Abstract

A variety of theories have been offered to account for women's lower levels of support for military action. Drawing on survey data from a number of sources on attitudes toward the Gulf War, we find that before the commencement of hostilities, women were less supportive than men of military action; during the conflict they supported the war with less enthusiasm, and several months after the war their later support for the conflict had eroded more deeply than had the support of men. Women were more concerned with the possibility of American and Iraqi losses, and more pessimistic about the costs of the war. Women also responded to the war with greater displays of negative emotion. We find little support for explanations that center on social location or maternalism. Our data suggest that an explanation that would take into account the interaction of greater pessimism among women and greater concern over troop losses might help explain gender differences.