An Investigation of Gender Effect on University Students’ Environmental Reasoning Patterns toward Environmental Moral Dilemmas


Tuncay B., Yılmaz Tüzün Ö., Cihangir G. C.

The National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), California, United States Of America, 17 - 21 April 2009, pp.303

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Summary Text
  • City: California
  • Country: United States Of America
  • Page Numbers: pp.303
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This study aims to find out whether there would be differences in the participants’ reasoning toward the given environmental moral dilemmas, which would be an indicator of a possible “gender gap” in people’s environmental concerns. A sample of 85 university undergraduates (46 female and 39 male) with a mean age of 22.83 years participated in the study. In-depth analyses were conducted on the responses given by the participants to examine their environmental moral reasoning patterns and thus look for a possible gender difference in their concerns about the consequences of the environmentally damaging actions presented in the given dilemmas. The results of the study demonstrated no significant difference between males and females in concern about the consequences of the presented environmental moral dilemmas and indicated that gender is just a weak predictor of environmental concern among university students