Date of Graduation

12-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Political Science (MA)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Political Science

Advisor/Mentor

Parry, Janine A.

Committee Member

Dowdle, Andrew J.

Second Committee Member

Saeidi, Shirin

Keywords

Climate change; Environmentalism; Environmental risk perception; Environmentalism; Feminism; Feminist feeling thermometer; Gender; Public opinion; Risk perception; Sex; White Male Effect

Abstract

This study analyzes the intersection of sex, environmental risk perception of climate change, and feminism. More specifically, with a sample size of 8,280 respondents from the American National Election Studies (ANES) 2020 Times Series Study, this research examines the relationship between pro-environmental attitudes and sympathy for feminism, controlling for sex, as well as if a measure of sympathy for feminism influences pro-environmental attitudes, controlling for demographic (age, education, race, sex, and income) and political preference (political ideology and party affiliation) variables. Previous literature strongly supports a sex gap in risk perception, a pattern known as the White Male Effect (WME) (Flynn, Slovic, and Mertz 1994). I extend the existing literature by expressly testing whether the relationship between pro- environmental attitudes and sympathy for feminism is strongest for women (H1), and whether a measure of sympathy for feminism positively influences pro-environmental attitudes (H2). The results substantiate both hypotheses with evidence that supports a biological sex gap in environmental attitudes (and support for feminism), in addition to an independent effect for feminism on pro-environmental attitudes. These findings demonstrate the complexity of American’s gendered attitudes toward climate change: the differences appear to stem from both biological and cultural differences.

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