Are women more credulous than men?

[sweeteviljesus]

Are women more credulous than men? Are they more likely to believe in astrology, ghosts, homeopathy, etc.? Are they more likely to be religious? If so, why?

While I know plenty of men who believe in silly stuff (and to be fair, the ones I hear talking about conspiracy theories are mostly men), it seems that the women that I know are more likely to believe in the sorts of things I roll my eyes at. Am I off base here?

Thanks,
Rob

[Bijou_Drains]

I went to a local show for various alternative health treatments. About 95% of the people there were women which I did not expect. (I am a guy) Based on that I would say women are more open to non-standard stuff.

[tdn]

I started this exact same thread a few years ago. The general concensus was that men are every bit as credulous but on different topics.

[Kimmy_Gibbler]

Ha ha. Yes, totally; women will believe anything!

[HorseloverFat]

Without degenerating into some unfunny observational comedy-level junk there’s a good essay from a female skeptic on the lack of women skeptics here.

[sweeteviljesus]

@tdn

I started this exact same thread a few years ago. The general concensus was that men are every bit as credulous but on different topics.

Do you have a link?

Rob

[Ludovic]

@sweeteviljesus

Do you have a link?

Rob

I, for one, believe him without a link.

[dangermom]

Who buys cheapo speakers when told that they’re fancy speakers that fell off the back of a truck?

I’d agree that men are equally credulous, though probably about different things.

[tdn]

@sweeteviljesus

Do you have a link?

Rob

Amazingly, yes. I was very doubtful that I’d be able to find it.

[dangermom]

Here’s another one–IME 9/11 Truthers are largely male.

[sweeteviljesus]

@tdn

Amazingly, yes. I was very doubtful that I’d be able to find it.

Thanks. That was what I was looking for.

Rob

[Cat_Fight]

While I’ve got to agree with those who remarked that men and women tend to be equally gullible and superstitious about different things (e.g. horoscopes and ‘lucky’ clothing items), the women I’ve observed looking to alternative medicine tend to be those who have been failed by the mainstream medical world (not that that’s any excuse for supporting the snake oil industry).

Here’s an interesting article, Women’s health and clinical trials, that offers a clear, fascinating look at medical trials and how they have been affected by both female doctors and female subjects (who are often excluded completely), as well as patients of different ethnic backgrounds.

An excerpt

The 1980s saw the great awakening of mainstream medicine to issues of women’s health. Researchers, both male and female, began to shower infamy upon several large and influential studies that omitted women as subjects of medical research. These most notably included (a) the Physicians’ Health Study of the effects of aspirin on cardiovascular disease, in which 22,071 men and 0 women physicians were enrolled (2); (b) the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT), a randomized trial conducted from 1973 to 1982 to evaluate correlations among blood pressure, smoking, cholesterol, and coronary heart disease in 12,866 men and 0 women (3); and (c) the National Institute on Aging’s Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, extending from 1958 to 1975 (4), which excluded female subjects, despite the fact that women constitute two-thirds of the population over age 65. Perhaps most surprising is that the first study of the role of estrogen in preventing heart disease was conducted solely on men, as it was considered a possible treatment (5).

[…]

Until 1988, clinical trials of new drugs by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were routinely conducted predominantly on men (8), even though women consume approximately 80% of pharmaceuticals in the US. The results of male-only clinical trials have led to the development of diagnoses, preventive measures, and treatments that are commonly extrapolated to women, yet the reverse is rare. In 1992, a survey by the US General Accounting Office, the body responsible for the audit, evaluation, and investigation of Congressional policy and funding decisions, found that less than half of publicly available prescription drugs had been analyzed for sex-related response differences (9). A consequence of extrapolating the results of male-only clinical data to female consumers is that women were (and still are) typically prescribed dosages devised for men’s average weights and metabolisms. For example, it is now known that acetaminophen, an ingredient in many pain relievers, is eliminated by the female body at approximately 60% the rate of elimination documented in men (10). The administration of drugs to women at dosages designed for men can place women at risk for overdose. Furthermore, while little is known about the effects of aspirin on heart disease in women, postmenopausal women, like men, have been encouraged to take aspirin daily. The effects of other widely used drugs, such as Valium, were never tested in randomized clinical trials with female subjects, although 2 million women per year consume this drug to control conditions such as anxiety, epilepsy, muscle spasms, and alcohol addiction.

Certainly there’s more to it, but it’s worth considering.

[Rigamarole]

I believe many men would have an easy time believing the hypothesis put forth in the OP.

[sherrylynn]

Anything you say, baby.

[Zoe]

Bijou Drains: I went to a local show for various alternative health treatments. About 95% of the people there were women which I did not expect. (I am a guy) Based on that I would say women are more open to non-standard stuff.

Depending upon what the non-standard stuff is, that can be a good thing or a bad thing. Alternative medicine in itself isn’t a bad thing. But some ideas that have been introduced have been labelled quackery by some practitioners of Western medicine.

Still:

With the increasing popularity of alternative medicine, numerous medical schools now offer courses on the subject. An article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association noted that of the 117 United States medical schools surveyed, 64 percent offer electives in CAM. [Complimentary and Alternative Medicine]

Source: THE JOHNS HOPKINS NEWSLETTER, April 9, 2009

Maybe women are more open-minded in their skepticism. (Which doesn’t necessarily disagree with what Bijou says.)

If I could just remember the names of those four guys from England who got me interested in meditation about forty years ago…

[Lust4Life]

Did you know that Gullible is the only standard English word never to be found in any dictionary?

Oh by the way I DO love you,the cheques in the post and I promise not to…er. I’ll get my coat…