Biology and being green: the effect of prenatal testosterone exposure on pro-environmental consumption behaviour

Publication type

Journal Article

Author

Publication date

November 15, 2020

Summary:

Differences between men and women in terms of pro-environmental behaviour have been attributed to differences in perceived threats to gender identity; pro-environmental behaviours being viewed as more feminine than masculine. Conversely, if pro-environmental behaviour is framed in terms of competition with peers, men might be expected to engage more than women. This paper explores how far such behaviours are related to a suggested source of gender related attitude/behaviour differences: pre-natal exposure to testosterone and estrogen, employing a suggested biomarker, the ratio of the length of the second and fourth digits of the hand (2D,4D). A stratified sample of UK households containing 880 adults (400 male and 480 female) drawn from the Understanding Society Survey Innovation Panel is used. A small but significant difference between men's and women's environmental behaviour is found whilst greater engagement with pro-environmental behaviour is associated with more masculine ratio in men, but not women.

Published in

Journal of Business Research

Volume and page numbers

Volume: 120 , p.619 -626

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.02.034

ISSN

1482963

Subjects

#525555

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