IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/socsci/v102y2021i5p2124-2133.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gender differences in perceived risk of COVID‐19

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew Lewis
  • Raymond Duch

Abstract

Objective We examine gender‐based differences in perceived risks related to COVID‐19. Methods We analyze published findings from COVID‐related research on beliefs and attitudes about the health risks posed by the pandemic. We also design and administer a pair of online survey experiments (n = 502) to test if and how responsive men's attitudes are to information about male‐specific risks. Results Across 16 studies, men consistently express lower perceived risk of contracting COVID‐19 and less concern about the potential health consequences if they were to catch it. Our experimental results are mixed: Results for one information treatment indicate that men report greater relative risk of adverse outcomes. Men in one of the risk information treatments express less concern for their health if they were to contract the disease. Risk perceptions are positively correlated with self‐reported propensity toward protective behaviors. Conclusion Our review of recent studies finds a small‐but‐consistent gap in men and women's beliefs about their health risks related to the present pandemic. These risk beliefs are crucial determinants of whether individuals take protective measures. Our experimental results suggest that informing men of male‐specific risks associated with COVID‐19 can reduce their risk perceptions and perceptions of risk and widen the gap between men and women's perceptions.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Lewis & Raymond Duch, 2021. "Gender differences in perceived risk of COVID‐19," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2124-2133, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:102:y:2021:i:5:p:2124-2133
    DOI: 10.1111/ssqu.13079
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.13079
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ssqu.13079?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:cup:judgdm:v:1:y:2006:i::p:48-63 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. John Manuel Barrios & Yael V. Hochberg, 2020. "Risk Perception Through the Lens of Politics in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic," Working Papers 2020-32, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    3. Anton Gollwitzer & Cameron Martel & William J. Brady & Philip Pärnamets & Isaac G. Freedman & Eric D. Knowles & Jay J. Van Bavel, 2020. "Partisan differences in physical distancing are linked to health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 4(11), pages 1186-1197, November.
    4. Ingar Haaland & Christopher Roth & Johannes Wohlfart, 2023. "Designing Information Provision Experiments," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 61(1), pages 3-40, March.
    5. Charness, Gary & Gneezy, Uri, 2012. "Strong Evidence for Gender Differences in Risk Taking," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 50-58.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Linnea A. Evans & Omar Gomez & Dulce J. Jiménez & Heather J. Williamson & Ann Turnlund Carver & Sairam Parthasarathy & Samantha Sabo, 2023. "Engaging Youth and Young Adults in the COVID-19 Pandemic Response via the “It’s Our Turn” Crowdsourcing Contest," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-14, March.
    2. Lorena Barberia & Thomas Plümper & Guy D. Whitten, 2021. "The political science of Covid‐19: An introduction," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2045-2054, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Faia, Ester & Fuster, Andreas & Pezone, Vincenzo & Zafar, Basit, 2021. "Biases in information selection and processing: Survey evidence from the pandemic," SAFE Working Paper Series 307, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    2. Yating Chuang & John Chung-En Liu, 2020. "Who wears a mask? Gender differences in risk behaviors in the COVID-19 early days in Taiwan," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(4), pages 2619-2627.
    3. Rafkin, Charlie & Shreekumar, Advik & Vautrey, Pierre-Luc, 2021. "When guidance changes: Government stances and public beliefs," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    4. Sandra H. Goff & John Ifcher & Homa Zarghamee & Alex Reents & Patrick Wade, 2023. "Support for bigger government: The principle‐implementation gap and COVID‐19," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(2), pages 243-261, April.
    5. Mellacher, Patrick, 2023. "The impact of corona populism: Empirical evidence from Austria and theory," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 113-140.
    6. Amy M. Wolaver & John A. Doces, 2021. "The impact of COVID‐19 and political identification on framing bias in an infectious disease experiment: The frame reigns supreme," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2459-2471, November.
    7. Khan, Adnan & Nasim, Sanval & Shaukat, Mahvish & Stegmann, Andreas, 2021. "Building trust in the state with information: Evidence from urban Punjab," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    8. Michael Bayerlein & Vanessa A. Boese & Scott Gates & Katrin Kamin & Syed Mansoob Murshed, 2021. "Populism and COVID-19: How Populist Governments (Mis)Handle the Pandemic," Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy, now publishers, vol. 2(3), pages 389-428, December.
    9. Boese-Schlosser, Vanessa & Bayerlein, Michael & Gates, Scott & Kamin, Katrin & Murshed, Syed Mansoob, 2023. "Trust issues? How being socialised in an autocracy shapes vaccine uptake," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Transformations of Democracy SP V 2023-502, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    10. Fuest, Clemens & Immel, Lea & Neumeier, Florian & Peichl, Andreas, 2023. "Does expert information affect citizens’ attitudes toward Corona policies? Evidence from Germany," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    11. Adam Brzezinski & Valentin Kecht & David Dijcke & Austin L. Wright, 2021. "Science skepticism reduced compliance with COVID-19 shelter-in-place policies in the United States," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(11), pages 1519-1527, November.
    12. Porismita Borah & Kyle Lorenzano & Anastasia Vishnevskaya & Erica Austin, 2022. "Conservative Media Use and COVID-19 Related Behavior: The Moderating Role of Media Literacy Variables," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-13, June.
    13. Wright, Austin L. & Sonin, Konstantin & Driscoll, Jesse & Wilson, Jarnickae, 2020. "Poverty and economic dislocation reduce compliance with COVID-19 shelter-in-place protocols," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 544-554.
    14. Ertac, Seda & Gumren, Mert & Gurdal, Mehmet Y., 2020. "Demand for decision autonomy and the desire to avoid responsibility in risky environments: Experimental evidence," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    15. Fereshteh Mahmoudian & Johnny Jermias, 2022. "The influence of governance structure on the relationship between pay ratio and environmental and social performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 2992-3013, November.
    16. Dilmaghani, Maryam, 2021. "A matter of time: Gender, time constraint, and risk taking among the chess elite," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    17. Leanne Roncolato & Alex Roomets, 2020. "Who will change the “baby?” Examining the power of gender in an experimental setting," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 823-852, September.
    18. Weida Kuang & Chunlin Liu & Qun Wu & Hongchao Zeng, 2021. "How do Interest Rate Changes Affect Mortgage Curtailments? Evidence from China," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 49(S2), pages 395-427, September.
    19. Cornaglia, Francesca & Drouvelis, Michalis & Masella, Paolo, 2019. "Competition and the role of group identity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 136-145.
    20. Bannier, Christina E. & Neubert, Milena, 2016. "Gender differences in financial risk taking: The role of financial literacy and risk tolerance," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 130-135.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:102:y:2021:i:5:p:2124-2133. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0038-4941 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.