The relationship of gender to species conservation attitudes

It has been over 10 years since Kellert and Berry's (1987) pioneering study on the influence of gender on attitudes toward wildlife. Since data were g athered for that study, several sociopolitical movements have entered the A merican ecopolitical scene, including the Sagebrush Rebellion and the Wise Use Movement, providing impetus for a current assessment of attitudes towar d wildlife. Consequently, we conducted a nationwide mail survey to assess g ender influences on attitudes toward wildlife conservation issues. In our s tudy, women ascribed greater preservation value to nonhuman species than me n, selected ecological importance as the most important factor in prioritiz ing species for conservation (as did men), exhibited a greater concern for species conservation relative to property rights than men, and expressed st ronger support for the Endangered Species Act (ESA) than men. The importanc e men and women placed on the ecological value of species conservation sugg ested that the American public supports continuing efforts to protect and c onserve endangered species.