Women typically report greater concern for the environment, including climate change, than men. The eco-mom theory—the belief that women have greater environmental concern than men because mothers primarily care about the health and safety of their children, while fathers primarily care about the economic support of their household—is often proffered as an explanation for this difference. Researchers who have previously tested the eco-mom theory have narrowly operationalized parenthood; we are skeptical of this theory and believe it needs additional testing. We look at fertility in relation to concern for climate change using the 2010 General Social Survey. Modeling parenthood like previous studies, we find no differences in concern for climate change between women who have children and those who do not. Modeling fertility, we find that having more children is associated with less concern for climate change for women but not men. Additionally, we find no gender difference in concern for climate change for those with many children, but these findings are complicated by education. Overall, we refute the eco-mom theory and call for new climate change survey data that better capture gender roles and identity as well as more qualitative inquiries into public concern for climate change.

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生态妈妈与气候变化：在解释性别差异时生育率的调节作用

与男性相比，女性通常更关心环境，包括气候变化。人们通常将生态妈妈理论（即女性比男性更关注环境问题，因为母亲主要关心孩子的健康和安全，而父亲主要关心家庭的经济支持这一信念）通常被解释为这种差异的原因。 。先前已经测试过生态妈妈理论的研究人员对父母身份的操作狭窄。我们对此理论表示怀疑，并认为它需要更多的测试。我们使用2010年《综合社会调查》来考察与气候变化相关的生育率。像以前的研究一样对父母身份进行建模，我们发现有子女的妇女与没有子女的妇女在气候变化方面没有任何区别。模拟生育力 我们发现，生育更多的孩子与妇女而不是男人对气候变化的关注较少相关。此外，我们发现对于有很多孩子的人来说，在气候变化方面没有性别差异，但是这些发现因教育而变得复杂。总体而言，我们驳斥了生态妈妈理论，并呼吁提供新的气候变化调查数据，以更好地反映性别角色和身份，并对公众对气候变化的关注进行更多定性的调查。