Gender and Age Effects on Public Attitudes to, and Knowledge of, Animal Welfare in China

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Gender has been found to influence attitudes towards animals, with women demonstrating more positive attitudes than men in some countries. As attitudes determine consumer behaviour, to a certain extent, and China (the biggest livestock producer globally) has witnessed major social changes in recent decades, we conducted a survey to investigate whether gender and age influenced attitudes towards animals. Respondents self-classified their gender as female, male, other, or they did not disclose it. We found that the attitudes were determined by a combination of gender and age, with more support for animal welfare in women aged 18–24 years than in older men (25–54 years). Those that did not disclose their gender and those declaring it as ‘other’ appeared to have different attitudes to those declaring it as female or male. ABSTRACT: A person’s gender and age can influence their attitudes towards animal welfare, with more benign attitudes generally ascribed to women. Given that attitudes influence consumer behaviour and the rapid recent social development in China (globally the biggest livestock producer), we surveyed over 1300 individuals across China to elucidate the role of gender and age in determining attitudes towards animals. Respondents self-identified their gender as male, female, other or not revealed. There were interactions between age and gender for many of the survey items, demonstrating that the effects of gender were dependent on the respondents’ age. Women aged 18–24 reported more benign attitudes towards animals than older men (aged between 25 and 54 years, depending on the survey question) and more empathetic responses were found in young respondents generally, although this did not necessarily translate into a willingness to pay more for higher-welfare animal products. We propose, drawing on Social Identity Theory, that women see animals as part of their social group, whereas men tend not to do this. Those responding as neither male nor female, i.e., as another gender, and those not revealing their gender appeared to have different relationships to animals than those responding as men or women. It is concluded that within Chinese culture, attitudes towards animals and their welfare are complex and influenced by an interaction between gender and age.