How gender ideologies affect climate change and carbon reduction
Climate change is becoming increasingly severe. To date, over 130 countries worldwide have declared net-zero emissions goals by 2050. Taiwan followed suit in 2021, announcing its commitment to the goal, and launching several strategic plans to demonstrate its determination to achieve net-zero carbon emissions. Dr. Li-San Hung, an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), has long focused on how family interactions influence disaster prevention behaviors. One of his studies explores the relationship between gender ideologies and motivations for climate change mitigation. When considering individuals' biological sex and marital status, the relationship between these factors becomes quite complex.
Dr. Hung specializes in the human dimensions of natural disasters and household disaster preparedness behaviors. During his doctoral studies at Pennsylvania State University, he developed a strong interest in how interactions among family members influence disaster preparedness behaviors at the household level. He notes that most social science studies focus on individuals. However, because a family consists of multiple individuals, the household decisions often require collaboration and negotiation among its members, including spouses and children. Therefore, when exploring family behaviors, interviewing only the head of the household may not give a complete picture.
Dr. Hung's first paper on household disaster preparedness behaviors focused on the relationship between decision-making within married heterosexual couples and their behaviors when facing an impending hurricane. During his doctoral studies, he conducted interviews with several heterosexual couples in Florida. One wife mentioned, “When a hurricane is coming, I start moving the important stuff to the second floor, like copies of our driver's licenses and marriage certificate...” Her husband responded, “Wow, I completely forgot about that!” When the wife saw her husband moving the patio furniture indoors, she thought, “That’s right, that's exactly what you should be doing.” These everyday disaster preparedness behaviors within households reflect how family members perceive and enact their gender roles.
This paper became a foundational study in the research on household disaster preparedness behaviors, leading to numerous follow-up studies. After returning to teach at NTNU, Dr. Hung shifted his focus to the disaster prevention behaviors of households in Taiwan. In recent years, he has also expanded his research into the field of climate change mitigation. He noted that with the growing global emphasis on climate change, governments worldwide are advocating for climate change mitigation and net-zero transitions. People are being encouraged to adopt more climate change mitigation behaviors. Through his research, he aims to understand how individuals and families incorporate these behaviors into their daily lives.
Given that gender ideologies are related to household division of labor, which in turn affects a family's climate change mitigation behaviors, Dr. Hung’s award-winning 2022 study explored this connection. He collaborated with Dr. Mucahid Mustafa Bayrak, a Dutch associate professor in the department, on this research. The study involved telephone interviews and the use of a gender ideology attitude scale to categorize respondents' gender ideologies into traditional or egalitarian views. They also inquired about the respondents’ willingness to change their behaviors to mitigate climate change. Through quantitative analysis, the study sought to further understand the relationship between gender ideologies and the intention to adopt climate change mitigation behaviors.
For example, one of the questions in the survey asked respondents to rate their agreement with the following statement: “A man’s job is to earn money; a woman’s job is to look after the home and the family.” Those who agreed with this statement were categorized as holding traditional gender role views, while those who disagreed were classified as holding egalitarian gender views.
The survey results indicated that a high proportion of respondents, regardless of whether they held traditional or egalitarian views, expressed a willingness to change their behavior to mitigate climate change. However, the relationship between different gender ideologies and the intention to adopt climate change mitigation behaviors was quite complex. When the sample was divided by gender and marital status into four groups—unmarried men, unmarried women, married men, and married women—it was found that the same gender ideology indicator had different relationships with the intention to engage in climate change mitigation behaviors across these groups.
The statistical results also revealed that, after accounting for other relevant factors, unmarried individuals with egalitarian views on gender roles had a higher intention to engage in climate change mitigation behaviors. Interestingly, for married women, those who held traditional gender role views demonstrated a higher intention to adopt climate change mitigation behaviors. In contrast, for married men, their views on this particular gender role question did not show any significant relationship with their intention to change climate change mitigation behaviors. These findings highlight the complexity of the relationship between gender ideologies and the intention to adopt climate change mitigation behaviors.
Despite Taiwan's progress toward gender equality, Dr. Hung points out that other surveys indicate a high proportion of household chores continue to be performed by women, who are often expected to focus on pregnancy and childbirth, with maternity leave predominantly taken by women. Since many married women are primarily responsible for household tasks, they may naturally start considering how to save energy, properly sort waste, and turn off lights—practices that are environmentally friendly. These factors might explain why married women who agree with the statement “A man’s job is to earn money; a woman’s job is to look after the home and the family” tend to have higher motivation for engaging in climate change mitigation behaviors.
Dr. Hung also mentioned another possible explanation: age or generational differences. Since married women, on average, tend to be older than unmarried women, these older women are more likely to retain traditional gender role attitudes.
Since this study, Dr. Hung has continued to focus his research efforts on understanding how interactions among family members influence disaster prevention behaviors. His research explores factors within household communication and interaction that impact climate change adaptation behaviors, as well as the relationship between family decision-making and climate change mitigation actions. Recently, he has employed advanced statistical methods to investigate whether conceptual alignment between spouses promotes climate change mitigation behaviors. Through this series of studies, Dr. Hung hopes that the findings will help people understand how to encourage climate change mitigation behaviors within families.
Source:
Hung, L. S., & Bayrak, M. M. (2022). Taking gender ideologies seriously in climate change mitigation: a case study of Taiwan. International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 14(2), 218-236. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCCSM-06-2021-0061
Li-San Hung Associate Professor | Department of Geography
Dr. Li-San Hung is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, NTNU. His research focuses on the geography of human-environment relations, with recent studies emphasizing the understanding of public perceptions of climate change in Taiwan and the factors influencing these views.