Divergence in opinions men and women hold

[JohnH]

One of the more interesting things going on lately is the divergence in opinions that men and women hold, including about scientific facts. For example, a survey in the UK found that 69% of women believed that nuclear power plants result in more carbon emissions:



(For those who are unaware, nuclear power plants do not increase carbon emissions, and generally speaking would lead to less carbon emissions due to displacing gas, coal, etc. power plants.)

[Soloist]

Wife: Interesting. I knew that it didn’t increase carbon emissions because it is supposedly a cleaner alternative to coal/fossil fuels. Otherwise, I would be hesitant just because of stories like Fukushima. We actually almost went over to Japan as our first duty station, but I was pregnant and didn’t want to be that far away from family, and that was the year Fukushima happened, and a bunch of civilians got sent back to the states.

Other than the carbon question, I mostly fit the stereotype. I don’t give a care what Britain decides to do, and I doubt that it’s usually that dangerous, but it does make me hesitant, and I wouldn’t really want to live right next to a nuclear power plant.

[Anthony]

Initially i was intrigued, but then I see they just polled on nuclear power plants. I assume this boils down to “nuclear” is scary and women are sensitive to safety. I am wondering if this massive gender gap shows up in other scientific surveys though

[Soloist]

Initially i was intrigued, but then I see they just polled on nuclear power plants. I assume this boils down to “nuclear” is scary and women are sensitive to safety. I am wondering if this massive gender gap shows up in other scientific surveys though

Wife: I have to ask… do you really think you would be standing here today if your mom didn’t keep reminding you to put on your jacket and your grandma didn’t tell you to drive safe?
(Even when I was walking.)

[barnhart]

Initially i was intrigued, but then I see they just polled on nuclear power plants. I assume this boils down to “nuclear” is scary and women are sensitive to safety. I am wondering if this massive gender gap shows up in other scientific surveys though

Wife: I have to ask… do you really think you would be standing here today if your mom didn’t keep reminding you to put on your jacket and your grandma didn’t tell you to drive safe?
(Even when I was walking.)

My mother always said they will come inside when they get cold.

[Anthony]

Initially i was intrigued, but then I see they just polled on nuclear power plants. I assume this boils down to “nuclear” is scary and women are sensitive to safety. I am wondering if this massive gender gap shows up in other scientific surveys though

Wife: I have to ask… do you really think you would be standing here today if your mom didn’t keep reminding you to put on your jacket and your grandma didn’t tell you to drive safe?
(Even when I was walking.)

[JohnH]

The overall gap seems to show that men and women simply live
In two different realities, and apparently also have different sets of facts.

[Soloist]

Wife: I don’t think this is really a sign of intelligence, or lack thereof, just possibly a difference in priorities on what they choose to learn about. There does tend to be a stereotype that guys are more likely to have their nose in the newspaper/ect, making them more likely to actually know about the subject at hand. Men might also be more likely to read deeper into the subject because many women either don’t find it interesting or pertinent, and if this was just a poll of people on the street, that might be all that it shows. Part of the reason I know about it is because of school and speech and debate team,and also the military/random news.

I personally am not strongly opposed to nuclear power plants, but given our government’s track record, I probably would not want to live down river or nearby. There are a few neighborhoods around here with documented increased cancer rates from previous soil/water contamination from various sources over the years, and all it takes is some slackers who decide to cut corners, and we have a problem. i’m sure that it has gotten significantly safer since Chernobyl, and people learn from disasters like Fukushima, but I still would rather it not near residential areas.

[JohnH]

Results for Americans would show a similar gap; the thing I read just happened to be of people in the UK. Overall, there is a gap that exists (and getting wider by the day) between men and women, particularly younger men and younger women. Another example is the increase in church attendance amongst young men but the decrease in young women.

It appears there is an ideological shift of young men in one direction and young women in the opposite direction. Normally, ideological shifts follow generations, but don't bifurcate along gender lines.

[Soloist]

Wife: You might be right although does it actually say anything about the demographics of the people who were surveyed? This might just be my gut impression and not backed by actual science (figures, right?), but I would sort of think that the higher educated younger women would be more likely to be comfortable with nuclear power plants than older, less educated ladies. It would be interesting to do a poll on the conservative Mennonites, because I don’t actually think most women I know, or even a lot of the men, think or read up into these subjects enough to have an opinion, other than maybe an instinctual caution against it because of all the bad rap nuclear power has gotten in the past.

If there’s more information on the demographics, though, that would be an interesting hypothesis to look into