"Individuals assess their vulnerability to hurricanes and take actions based not only on objective indicators of hurricane severity, but also on the gender of hurricanes," according to a study which appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"This pattern may emerge because individuals systematically underestimate their vulnerability to hurricanes with more feminine names, avoiding or delaying protective measures," said Sharon Shavitt, a professor of marketing at Illinois and a co-author of the study, in an interview with USA Today.
"Social science and interdisciplinary research is critical to better understand how people respond to different types of hurricane risk information, so that we can use this knowledge to improve forecast and warning communication and reduce loss of life when a hurricane threatens," added Rebecca Morrs, another NCAR scientist.