Research has shown that men typically support animal experimentation more than women. This has been the case since the late 19th century when the first anti-vivisectionist movements began. However, the psychological factors associated with this gender difference have not been thoroughly explored.

These psychological factors can include empathy, speciesism, and social dominance orientation:

• Speciesism is the belief and perception that humans can exploit animals because non-humans have lower intrinsic value. Animal experimentation is an example of speciesism. Research shows men are more likely to support speciesism than women.
• Empathy is the ability to understand and share others’ emotions. Higher empathy is associated with more positive attitudes toward animals and therefore lower support for animal experimentation.
• Social dominance orientation (SDO) measures a desire to rank social groups such that certain groups (usually one’s own) dominate others. SDO is associated with discrimination toward others (such as speciesism) and a lack of empathy.

Generally, gender is a strong predictor of perceptions and actions toward animals. Women tend to have more positive attitudes toward animals — for instance, they are more likely to have companion animals and less likely to eat meat-based diets. Men, in contrast, are more likely to eat meat and harm animals through activities such as hunting.

The study used a mediation model to examine the three psychological factors (speciesism, empathy, and SDO) in relation to each other and in the different genders. Each factor could then be associated with the gender gap in support of animal experimentation.

The researchers used a short online survey asking participants to rate their agreement with a variety of statements on a seven-point scale. The sample of just over 1,000 French participants had a balance of men and women and representation from a wide range of socioeconomic groups. The researchers speculated that gender differences in speciesism, empathy, and SDO would explain the gender gap in support of animal experimentation. Also, they considered that gender differences in empathy and SDO would explain the differences in speciesism between men and women.

Consistent with other research, the study found that the more empathetic a person, the less speciesism and SDO they had. Also, SDO and speciesism were strongly and positively linked. Support for animal experimentation was therefore strongly and positively linked with both speciesism and SDO, and strongly and negatively linked with empathy.

The meditation model revealed that men had lower empathy, greater SDO, and greater speciesism than women. Therefore, men were more supportive of animal experimentation than women. However, as the model controlled for each psychological factor, it also showed that SDO didn’t predict support for animal experimentation. Thus, gender predicted support for animal experimentation through empathy and speciesism, but not SDO. For that reason, the study suggests that it’s not gender that affects perceptions of animal experimentation, but rather the individual traits (such as levels of empathy and speciesism) associated with gender.

Although the findings showed less pronounced gender differences in SDO, this isn’t typical and wasn’t expected, so further studies should explore and challenge this. Also, sampling could have been improved to be more representative of the population in other important areas such as age and occupation. The model used in this study could also be used to explore other gender differences in relation to other forms of animal exploitation such as hunting and bullfighting.

This study offers advocates working to end animal experimentation some insights into why it may be more difficult to find support among men than women. Given the gender differences in empathy and speciesism, highlighting the inefficiencies and ineffectiveness rather than the cruelties of animal experiments could be a promising tactic. Attention could also be focused on interventions aimed at reducing speciesism, particularly with children, as previous research has shown that speciesism is learned at a later stage of childhood development.