IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/socsci/v103y2022i1p31-41.html

Reassessing Gender Differences in COVID‐19 Risk Perception and Behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Mónica Ferrín

Abstract

Objective This article reassesses the gender differences in COVID‐19 attitudes and behavior found in previous studies by examining to what extent the gender gap in the adoption of COVID‐19 preventive behaviors is dependent on women's and men's perceptions of risk. Methods The data utilized in this study were obtained from the “Understanding America Study Coronavirus in America (‘COVID’) Survey,” conducted by the Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR), at the University of Southern California. Result This study shows that women are more risk averse than men, but that the gender gap in risk behavior depends on the level of risk that is associated with COVID‐19. Conclusion Risk perception is a stronger driver of risk behavior for men than for women, who generally tend to adopt safe measures to protect themselves and others. Different messages should be delivered to women and men to increase compliance with norms.

Suggested Citation

  • Mónica Ferrín, 2022. "Reassessing Gender Differences in COVID‐19 Risk Perception and Behavior," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 103(1), pages 31-41, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:103:y:2022:i:1:p:31-41
    DOI: 10.1111/ssqu.13116
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.13116
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ssqu.13116?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. Jennifer D. Wu & Gregory A. Huber, 2021. "Partisan Differences in Social Distancing May Originate in Norms and Beliefs: Results from Novel Data," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2251-2265, September.
    2. Courtenay, Will H., 2000. "Constructions of masculinity and their influence on men's well-being: a theory of gender and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 50(10), pages 1385-1401, May.
    3. Laurel Elder & Steven Greene, 2021. "A Recipe for Madness: Parenthood in the Era of Covid‐19," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2296-2311, September.
    4. Lin, Tian & Harris, Elizabeth A. & Heemskerk, Amber & Van Bavel, Jay J. & Ebner, Natalie C., 2021. "A multi-national test on self-reported compliance with COVID-19 public health measures: The role of individual age and gender demographics and countries’ developmental status," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 286(C).
    5. Azmat, Ghazala & Petrongolo, Barbara, 2014. "Gender and the labor market: What have we learned from field and lab experiments?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 32-40.
    6. Preece, Jessica & Stoddard, Olga, 2015. "Why women don’t run: Experimental evidence on gender differences in political competition aversion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 296-308.
    7. Carlos Algara & Sam Fuller & Christopher Hare & Sara Kazemian, 2021. "The Interactive Effects of Scientific Knowledge and Gender on COVID‐19 Social Distancing Compliance," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(1), pages 7-16, January.
    8. Daniel Stockemer & Friedrich Plank & Arne Niemann, 2021. "The COVID‐19 pandemic and government responses: A gender perspective on differences in public opinion," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2383-2393, September.
    9. Debra Leiter & Jack Reilly & Beth Vonnahme, 2021. "The crowding of social distancing: How social context and interpersonal connections affect individual responses to the coronavirus," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2435-2451, September.
    10. repec:cup:judgdm:v:1:y:2006:i::p:48-63 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Christine R. Harris & Michael Jenkins & Dale Glaser, 2006. "Gender differences in risk assessment: Why do women take fewer risks than men?," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 1, pages 48-63, July.
    12. Nicolás Bronfman & Paula Repetto & Paola Cordón & Javiera Castañeda & Pamela Cisternas, 2021. "Gender Differences on Psychosocial Factors Affecting COVID-19 Preventive Behaviors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-12, May.
    13. Kristin Kanthak & Jonathan Woon, 2015. "Women Don't Run?Election Aversion and Candidate Entry," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 59(3), pages 595-612, July.
    14. Michael Becher & Daniel Stegmueller & Sylvain Brouard & Eric Kerrouche, 2021. "Ideology and compliance with health guidelines during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A comparative perspective," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2106-2123, September.
    15. Azmat, Ghazala & Petrongolo, Barbara, 2014. "Gender and the labor market: What have we learned from field and lab experiments?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 32-40.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Priyanka Chakraborty & Danila Serra, 2021. "Gender and leadership in organizations: Promotions, demotions and angry workers," Working Papers 20210104-001, Texas A&M University, Department of Economics.
    2. Estefanía Galván, 2022. "Gender Identity and Quality of Employment," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(354), pages 409-436, April.
    3. L. Rachel Ngai & Barbara Petrongolo, 2017. "Gender Gaps and the Rise of the Service Economy," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 1-44, October.
    4. Andrew E. Clark & Elena Stancanelli, 2016. "Individual Well-Being and the Allocation of Time Before and After the Boston Marathon Terrorist Bombing," PSE Working Papers hal-01302843, HAL.
    5. Benjamin Artz & Amanda H. Goodall & Andrew J. Oswald, 2018. "Do Women Ask?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(4), pages 611-636, October.
    6. Oriana Bandiera & Nidhi Parekh & Barbara Petrongolo & Michelle Rao, 2022. "Men are from Mars, and Women Too: A Bayesian Meta‐analysis of Overconfidence Experiments," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(S1), pages 38-70, June.
    7. Claudia Olivetti & Barbara Petrongolo, 2016. "The Evolution of Gender Gaps in Industrialized Countries," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 8(1), pages 405-434, October.
    8. Anica Rose, 2017. "Subjective Appraisals of Employee Potential: Do Gender and Managerial Level Matter?," Working Papers Dissertations 22, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    9. Ostry, Jonathan D. & Espinoza, Raphael & Papageorgiou, Chris, 2019. "The Armistice of the Sexes: Gender Complementarities in the Production Function," CEPR Discussion Papers 13792, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Jochen Hundsdoerfer & Eva Matthaei, 2022. "Gender Discriminatory Taxes, Fairness Perception, and Labor Supply," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 78(1-2), pages 156-207.
    11. Borghorst, Malte & Mulalic, Ismir & van Ommeren, Jos, 2024. "Commuting, gender and children," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    12. Sarah Fleche & Anthony Lepinteur & Nattavudh Powdthavee, 2018. "Gender Norms and Relative Working Hours: Why Do Women Suffer More Than Men from Working Longer Hours Than Their Partners?," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 108, pages 163-168, May.
    13. Hernandez-Arenaz, Iñigo & Iriberri, Nagore, 2018. "Women ask for less (only from men): Evidence from bargaining in the field," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 192-214.
    14. David Card & Fabrizio Colella & Rafael Lalive, 2025. "Gender Preferences in Job Vacancies and Workplace Gender Diversity," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 92(4), pages 2437-2471.
    15. Finseraas, Henning & Johnsen, Åshild A. & Kotsadam, Andreas & Torsvik, Gaute, 2016. "Exposure to female colleagues breaks the glass ceiling—Evidence from a combined vignette and field experiment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 363-374.
    16. Valeria Maggian & Antonio Nicolò, 2016. "The wrong man for the job: biased beliefs and job mismatching," Post-Print halshs-01324733, HAL.
    17. Peveri, Julieta & Sangnier, Marc, 2023. "Gender differences in re-contesting decisions: New evidence from French municipal elections," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 574-594.
    18. Ahammer, Alexander & Glogowsky, Ulrich & Halla, Martin & Hener, Timo, 2023. "The Parenthood Penalty in Mental Health: Evidence from Austria and Denmark," IZA Discussion Papers 16459, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Mario Lackner, 2021. "Gender differences in competitiveness," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 236-236, November.
    20. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/5msrbb0rie9sjq3c4ejgb2v91o is not listed on IDEAS
    21. De Paola, Maria & Lombardo, Rosetta & Pupo, Valeria & Scoppa, Vincenzo, 2021. "Do Women Shy Away from Public Speaking? A Field Experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).

    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:103:y:2022:i:1:p:31-41. 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.