Societal gender role beliefs moderate the pattern of gender differences in public- and private-sphere pro-environmental behaviors

Abstract

Although societies have widely recognized the gender differences of women participating more than men do in private-sphere pro-environmental behavior, how the relationship between gender and public-sphere pro-environmental behavior varies across societies is less clear. To fill this gap, we examined the moderating effect of societal gender role beliefs in how gender predicts public-sphere pro-environmental behavior across societies using large-scale surveys. In Study 1, using the data from the World Values Survey (N = 85,484 from 57 countries), we found that gender differences (i.e., men do more than women) in the number of participations in different types of public-sphere pro-environmental behavior were greater among societies with stronger gender role beliefs. In Study 2, using the data from the International Social Survey Programme (N = 46,705 from 34 countries), we replicated the findings in Study 1 for public-sphere pro-environmental behavior. Additionally, we found that gender differences (i.e., women do more than men) in the number of participations in different types of private-sphere pro-environmental behavior were greater among societies with weaker gender role beliefs. However, these results diminished with the moderating effect of other societal-level factors controlled. These findings provide a better understanding of the relationship between gender and pro-environmental behaviors and reveal the importance of social contexts in moderating the magnitude of gender identity maintenance across domains.