Place, Gender, and Intra-partisan Variation on Environmental Attitudes

• In Event: Gender and Climate

Abstract

Partisan, gender, and location gaps in attitudes towards climate policy are well documented. Drawing on gender role theory, we argue that Republican women, particularly mothers and those who are more likely to live in rural and suburb areas, are more likely to use communal-oriented and forward-thinking logic to prioritize climate policymaking. We explore how gender, partisanship, and residency shape perceptions of environmental risk and preferences towards various mitigative behaviors facilitated by the Inflation Reduction Act. Comparing within gender, between-party and between-gender but within party attitudes, we are able to distinguish effects of gender and party and examine different forms of climate policy. We draw on public opinion data from the Cooperative Election Study, the Pew Research Center, and an original survey to show that Republican women’s climate policy preferences are distinct from men, with strong effects for parenthood and location.

Authors

• Mirya R Holman, University of Houston

• Salil Deepak Benegal, Union College