Gendered Environmental Efficacy in Millennials: A Cross-national Latent Class Analysis

• In Event: 50817 - Novel Approaches to Environmental Sociology

Abstract

Gender differences in pro-environmental behavior have been widely documented, with studies showing that women are more likely than men to engage in behaviors such as recycling and ethical consumption. While existing research often attributes this difference to greater environmental concern among women, this explanation alone does not fully capture the mechanisms shaping gendered environmental attitudes. This study incorporates environmental efficacy within the current discussion on gendered environmental concerns and behavior for an underlying meaning of gender differences in pro-environmental behavior, focusing on how individuals perceive their own and society’s ability to address environmental challenges. Recent research on climate emotions—such as cynicism and denials—suggests that gendered differences in environmental behavior are tied to broader cognitive mechanisms, particularly perceptions of powerlessness and agency in environmental action.
To examine how gender shapes environmental efficacy, I apply latent class analysis (LCA) to identify distinct efficacy patterns. By analyzing 2,127 Millennials across nine countries, this study identifies three major subtypes of environmental efficacy: (1) Individual Activism, (2) Collective Activism, and (3) Collective Cynicism and found the key following gendered patterns:
– Men are significantly likely to fall into Collective Cynicism, expressing higher skepticism about individual action.
– Women are more likely to identify with Individual Activism, reflecting strong personal efficacy and agency independent of the positive prospection of collective efficacy.

The overarching gendered patterns consistently highlight nuanced meanings in shaping environmental efficacy. These findings suggest that women’s greater engagement in pro-environmental behaviors is not simply a product of heightened concern but is linked to a stronger sense of personal efficacy, whereas men’s lower engagement correlates with higher levels of cynicism and perceived powerlessness. By integrating cognitive mechanisms and climate emotions into the study of gendered environmental behavior, this research provides a new framework for understanding the ways in which gender shapes environmental engagement.

Author

• Hanee Choi, Rutgers University-New Brunswick