Values, Gender, and Concern about Potentially Dangerous Wildlife

Abstract

In this study, the authors investigated wildlife value orientations, gender, and concern about risks posed by a large, potentially dangerous predator—the mountain lion. A survey (58% response rate) was used to collect data from a random sample of adult residents ( N = 2,469) in Colorado metropolitan areas. Both gender and parental role predicted concern about being attacked. Women expressed greater concern than men, and participants with children living at home expressed greater concern than participants without children at home. Participants with utilitarian values were more likely than those with protectionist ones to accept destroying a lion in a residential area, and men were more likely than women to accept destroying it. Additional research is needed to understand why women perceived more risk from a mountain lion but were less willing to accept destroying it, as well as to understand the relationships among gender, parental role, and environmental risk concern.