News Psychology

Stereotypes might make ‘female’ hurricanes deadlier

People may get fatally lax in preparing for severe storms with women’s names

FEMME FATALE  Gender stereotypes may explain why hurricanes with feminine names cause more deaths than those with masculine names, a contested new study suggests. Shown here is Hurricane Rita, a deadly storm that reached the United States in September 2005.

Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team/GSFC/NASA 

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

People view hurricanes with names such as Alexandra and Kate as less dangerous than hurricanes called, say, Alexander and Danny, reports a team led by business graduate student Kiju Jung and psychologist Sharon Shavitt, both of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.