Facing Change: Gender and Climate Change Attitudes Worldwide
Gender differences in concern about climate change are highly correlated with economic development: when countries are wealthier, a gap emerges whereby women are more likely than men to express concern about our changing climate. These differences stem from cross-national variation in men’s attitudes. Men, more than women, tend to be less concerned about climate change when countries are wealthier. This article develops a new theory about the perceived costs and benefits of climate mitigation policy to explain this pattern. At the country level, the perceived benefits of mitigation tend to decrease with economic development, whereas the perceived costs increase. At the individual level, the perceived costs of mitigation tend to increase with economic development for men more than for women. Evidence from existing surveys from every world region, an original 10-country survey in the Americas and Europe, and focus groups in Peru and the United States support the theory.
Amanda Clayton is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science. Much of her work focuses on the consequences of women’s political representation. This includes how the adoption of electoral gender quotas shapes the substantive representation of women’s interests in national legislatures and how exposure to women officeholders affects citizen behavior. Her current research examines questions related to gender and climate governance, including a book project that examines the origins of gender differences in climate attitudes worldwide.
Her work has appeared in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, and International Organization among other outlets. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, the American Association of University Women (AAUW), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP) research group. She has also consulted for the World Bank (Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network, Africa Region), USAID (Women’s Political Participation and Leadership Program), and the OECD (Public Governance Directorate). She is a founding member of EGEN and an active member of EGAP.