Essay by Eric Worrall
According to the study, some men are frightened of appearing weak and feminine if they admit they are worried about climate change.
Some men may downplay climate change risks to avoid appearing feminine
by Eric W. Dolan
December 25, 2025
in ClimateNew research provides evidence that men who are concerned about maintaining a traditional masculine image may be less likely to express concern about climate change. The findings suggest that acknowledging environmental problems is psychologically linked to traits such as warmth and compassion. These traits are stereotypically associated with femininity in many cultures. Consequently, men who feel pressure to prove their manhood may avoid environmentalist attitudes to protect their gender identity. The study was published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.
Scientific consensus indicates that climate change is occurring and poses significant risks to global stability. Despite this evidence, public opinion remains divided. Surveys consistently reveal a gender gap regarding environmental attitudes. Men typically express less concern about climate change than women do. Michael P. Haselhuhn, a researcher at the University of California, Riverside, sought to understand the psychological drivers behind this disparity.
…Precarious manhood theory posits that manhood is viewed socially as a status that is difficult to earn and easy to lose. Unlike womanhood, which is often treated as a biological inevitability, manhood must be proven through action. This psychological framework suggests that men experience anxiety about failing to meet societal standards of masculinity. They must constant reinforce their status and avoid behaviors that appear feminine.
…
Haselhuhn found a negative relationship between masculinity concerns and climate engagement. Men who placed a high importance on being a man were less likely to believe that climate change is caused by human activity. They also reported feeling less personal responsibility to reduce climate change. Furthermore, these men expressed lower levels of worry about the issue.
…The study has some limitations. It relied on self-reported attitudes rather than observable behaviors. It is possible that the pressure to conform to masculine norms would be even higher in public settings where men are watched by peers. Men might be willing to express concern in an anonymous survey but reject those views in a group setting to maintain status.
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Read more: https://www.psypost.org/some-men-may-downplay-climate-change-risks-to-avoid-appearing-feminine/
The abstract of the study;
Man enough to save the planet? Masculinity concerns predict attitudes toward climate change
Michael P. Haselhuhn
Highlights
- •Concerns about maintaining manhood predict less worry about climate change in men.
- •Those who are concerned about the climate are perceived as warm and caring.
- •Masculinity concerns interact with warmth perceptions to predict men’s attitudes.
Abstract
Despite scientific consensus that climate change is occurring, many individuals deny that the climate is changing. Although past work has examined gender differences in climate change attitudes, less is known about how within-gender individual differences may affect climate change concern. In this paper, I study how masculinity concerns relate to climate change attitudes in men. I assert that expressing concern about climate change is associated with traditionally feminine characteristics of warmth, caring and compassion and predict that, because of this relationship, men who are more concerned about maintaining their sense of masculinity will express less concern about climate change. Across four studies, I find support for my predictions.
Read more (paywalled): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272494425002555
Sadly the study is paywalled, but this entire hypothesis appears to be based on the assumption that concern about climate change is rational, and that rejecting climate alarmism requires a psychological explanation.
In my opinion the study author found what he expected to find. He expected to find a source of psychological distress which led people to embrace irrational climate skepticism. An apparent correlation between sexual insecurity and climate skepticism appeared to fit the preconceived need for an explanation for irrational behaviour.
But what if the irrational behaviour is to believe the climate alarmists? For just under 40 years we’ve been repeatedly promised imminent climate catastrophe. Why is it irrational to conclude after 40 years of fake doomsday predictions, maybe the climate crisis is fake?
From 2019;
The question then is, why do women appear more likely to believe irrational climate warnings?
Before anyone suggests the problem is women are irrational, there is a much simpler explanation.
Women in Western culture are far less likely to have a science / engineering background. Knowledge of science provides the mental toolkit to challenge wild climate claims. Having the skill to analyse and question climate claims does not automatically make someone a climate skeptic, but it provides more a path for someone to become a climate skeptics.
It is completely understandable if men or women who lack scientific knowledge defer to authority figures instead of forming their own conclusions.
How many of the sampled “insecure” men had a STEM background? Did the study author even bother to check?
From what I have seen this male bias towards STEM is purely a Western phenomenon. When I visited an IT shop in Taipei, over half the programmers were women. Somehow we are failing our women, steering girls away from STEM at an early age.
An easy test for this STEM knowledge can lead to climate skepticism theory would be to determine whether the climate skeptic gender gap was as prevalent in Eastern cultures as it is in Western cultures. At the very least STEM knowledge should be tested and considered as a factor. But author Michael Haselhuhn has a convenient inference which in his mind demonstrates that climate skeptics cling to skepticism to help cover their gender insecurity. I’m not holding my breath waiting for follow up studies which might undermine such a flawed claim.
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