Frauen fühlen sich in der Natur ängstlicher, insbesondere wenn soziale Bedrohungen vorhanden sind Die Studie ergab, dass Frauen konsequent mehr Angst ausdrückten, ein höheres Risiko empfanden und weniger geneigt waren, bewaldete Umgebungen zu erforschen, wenn potenzielle Gefahren vorliegen.

From the article: Women are more likely than men to feel unsafe in nature, particularly in areas with dense vegetation or when social threats are implied, according to a new study [published](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272494425002051?via%3Dihub) in the Journal of Environmental Psychology. Across three experiments involving hundreds of adults in the United Kingdom, women consistently expressed more fear, perceived higher risk, and were less inclined to explore wooded environments when potential dangers were present.

The study was partially inspired by a viral social media trend that captured public attention in 2024. The “Man or bear” debate asked users whether they would rather encounter a man or a bear while alone in the woods. Many women chose the bear, suggesting that they perceived a greater threat from an unknown man than from a wild animal. This phenomenon sparked a broader discussion about women’s experiences of safety in natural environments and highlighted how social fears can shape engagement with nature.

Although earlier studies have shown that environmental features like vegetation density can influence feelings of safety, relatively few had examined how those effects may vary by gender, especially when different types of threats — such as social, animal, or physical dangers — are involved. The researchers sought to fill this gap using experimental methods that allowed them to systematically vary environmental cues and measure psychological responses.

“I became interested in women’s experiences in forests and greenspaces because I had a few experiences in nature myself when I didn’t feel entirely safe, and as a consequence the visit was not as enjoyable as I hoped,” explained study author Anna Bornioli, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health and an associate researcher at the Environmental Psychology Research Group at the University of Surrey, where this study was conducted.

“When chatting with my friends about this, I realised that many female friends empathized, having had similarly bad experiences. On the other hand, many male friends had no idea of what we were talking about. So I started to wonder if gender has anything to do with how we experience nature, and reflected on how gender stereotypes, the way we are brought up, and safety concerns can affect nature experiences. This specific study focuses on safety perceptions.”

Me: Do you want to explore the dangerous woods?

Her: I don’t feel inclined

Me: Me neither, though I feel slightly more inclined than you.

Scientist: *Takes notes*

Yeah women are fed stories about how they are gonna be raped and murdered in the woods from all their elders and peers.

Turns out I’m an outlier because I feel way safer in the woods on account of there being far fewer humans.

Women also live longer

If I was a woman in The woods I’d have a dog or mace. That’s sad. But probably men should too. If only to help protect a woman in need too