Gender, Religion, Culture and Environmental Consciousness: A Cross-National, Multilevel Study

• In Event: 473 - Section on Political Economy of the World-System Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Section on Political Economy of the World-System Roundtables (one-hour). Table 01. Environment

Abstract

An array of previous work points to there being significant gender differences in terms of environmental consciousness. At national and cross-national levels, as well as in more micro levels of analysis, females, on average tend to favor pro-environmental attitudes more than males. There is, however, significant variation. Virtually all of the work thus far, however, has focused only on main effects. We are interested in how gender interacts with other key predictors, particularly cultural variables such as religious orientation, and economic variables. Using Macro level controls and individual level variables from the World Value Survey, we examine questions around gender and the continuing influence of religious beliefs on ethical orientation. Controlling for a number of macro level variables, including inequality in the world system and within a country, economic growth; and micro level indicators including education, employment status and income, we find significant effects of gender on beliefs about the natural environment. Of particular interest are some of the interactions we find between gender and religion. We discuss our findings in light of a number of theoretical and practical implications.

Authors

• Thomas J. Burns, University of Oklahoma

• Maritin P Piotrowski, University of Oklahoma

• Erik L Bond, University of Oklahoma

• Kimberly M Murray, University of Oklahoma

• Kelsea F Ciavaglia, University of Oklahoma