When it comes to supporting the scientific consensus of global warming, women are proving to be the more willing sex.
Aaron McCright, a sociology professor at Michigan State University, analyzed eight years of Gallup Poll data that asked basic questions about climate change: Has it begun? Do humans cause it? Do scientists agree that it is happening?
McCright’s study found that women were more likely to agree that effects of climate change were already being seen. More women also said that humans cause global warming and that scientists agree on its existence. They also tended to be more concerned about climate change.
“Does this mean women are more likely to buy energy-efficient appliances and hybrid vehicles than men?” McCright wonders. “Do they vote for different political candidates? Do they talk to their children differently about global warming?”
McCright speculates that the reason guys are less likely to accept climate change is that they naturally tend toward “detachment, control, and mastery.” Women, on the other hand, have qualities of “empathy and care” that open them to the possibility.
In short, men are apparently heathens. Politicians and advertisers take note.
I think it’s the maternal thing!