The gender gap and torture: Opposition to torture among men and women in the USA

• Differential support for the use of torture on terrorist suspects is examined.
• Gender and motherhood are expected to influence the support for torture policy.
• Women are found to have significantly less support for the use of torture than men.
• Women that are mothers are found to have no less support for the use of torture than men that are fathers and men that are not fathers.

The study of women in politics includes the analysis of both elite women and the masses in regard to their voting, political activity, and attitudes. Research shows that women hold different political attitudes. This gender gap is explained in relation to a number of attitudes, but few studies analyze whether the gender gap is still evident in an issue area that women might be torn in two hypothesized directions. The purpose of this study is to conduct an analysis of the gender gap in individual's attitudes toward the appropriateness of torture to prevent future terrorist attacks.