The religiosity gender gap in 14 diverse societies

Tom Vardy; Cristina Moya; Caitlyn D. Placek; Coren L. Apicella; Alexander Bolyanatz; Emma Cohen; Carla Handley; Eva Kundtová Klocová; Carolyn Lesorogol; Sarah Mathew; Sarah A. McNamara; Benjamin G. Purzycki; Montserrat Soler; Jonathan L. Weigel; Aiyana K. Willard; Dimitris Xygalatas; Ara Norenzayan; Joseph Henrich; Martin Lang; Quentin D. Atkinson

doi:10.1080/2153599X.2021.2006292

The religiosity gender gap in 14 diverse societies

Tom Vardy^*, Cristina Moya, Caitlyn D. Placek, Coren L. Apicella, Alexander Bolyanatz, Emma Cohen, Carla Handley, Eva Kundtová Klocová, Carolyn Lesorogol, Sarah Mathew, Sarah A. McNamara, Benjamin G. Purzycki, Montserrat Soler, Jonathan L. Weigel, Aiyana K. Willard, Dimitris Xygalatas, Ara Norenzayan, Joseph Henrich, Martin Lang, Quentin D. Atkinson

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Culture and Society - Department of the Study of Religion

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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Abstract

Scholars of religion have long sought to explain the persistent finding that women tend to report greater religiosity than men. However, the size of this “gender gap” may depend on the measure of religiosity employed, the religious tradition being sampled, and socio-demographic factors. Here, we conduct a systematic cross-cultural investigation into the prevalence of, and explanations for, the religiosity gender gap in 2,002 individuals from 14 diverse societies. While variation exists across societies, women in general indicate greater mental commitment (i.e., thinking and worrying more about) to their community’s moralistic god, more frequent participation in rituals for their community’s moralistic god, and more frequent prayer. While we find that the gender gap extends beyond the Christian world, no such difference was seen in religious commitment towards more local gods, to which men tend to show greater commitment. Tentative support is provided for explanations relating gender differences in religiosity to lower formal education and greater mentalizing among women, however an explanation for greater religious commitment to local gods among men remains elusive. Nevertheless, our data suggest that the moralizing gods of some contemporary world religions, unlike local deities and traditions, have evolved in ways that make them more appealing to women.

Original language	English
Journal	Religion, Brain and Behavior
Volume	12
Issue	1-2
Pages (from-to)	18-37
Number of pages	20
ISSN	2153-599X
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2021.2006292
Publication status	Published - Apr 2022

Keywords

cross-cultural research
Cultural evolution
moralistic gods
risk
secularization
supernatural punishment

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10.1080/2153599X.2021.2006292

The religiosity gender gap in 14 diverse societiesAccepted manuscript, 838 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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Vardy, T., Moya, C., Placek, C. D., Apicella, C. L., Bolyanatz, A., Cohen, E., Handley, C., Kundtová Klocová, E., Lesorogol, C., Mathew, S., McNamara, S. A., Purzycki, B. G., Soler, M., Weigel, J. L., Willard, A. K., Xygalatas, D., Norenzayan, A., Henrich, J., Lang, M., & Atkinson, Q. D. (2022). The religiosity gender gap in 14 diverse societies. Religion, Brain and Behavior, 12(1-2), 18-37. https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2021.2006292

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title = "The religiosity gender gap in 14 diverse societies",

abstract = "Scholars of religion have long sought to explain the persistent finding that women tend to report greater religiosity than men. However, the size of this “gender gap” may depend on the measure of religiosity employed, the religious tradition being sampled, and socio-demographic factors. Here, we conduct a systematic cross-cultural investigation into the prevalence of, and explanations for, the religiosity gender gap in 2,002 individuals from 14 diverse societies. While variation exists across societies, women in general indicate greater mental commitment (i.e., thinking and worrying more about) to their community{\textquoteright}s moralistic god, more frequent participation in rituals for their community{\textquoteright}s moralistic god, and more frequent prayer. While we find that the gender gap extends beyond the Christian world, no such difference was seen in religious commitment towards more local gods, to which men tend to show greater commitment. Tentative support is provided for explanations relating gender differences in religiosity to lower formal education and greater mentalizing among women, however an explanation for greater religious commitment to local gods among men remains elusive. Nevertheless, our data suggest that the moralizing gods of some contemporary world religions, unlike local deities and traditions, have evolved in ways that make them more appealing to women.",

keywords = "cross-cultural research, Cultural evolution, moralistic gods, risk, secularization, supernatural punishment",

author = "Tom Vardy and Cristina Moya and Placek, {Caitlyn D.} and Apicella, {Coren L.} and Alexander Bolyanatz and Emma Cohen and Carla Handley and {Kundtov{\'a} Klocov{\'a}}, Eva and Carolyn Lesorogol and Sarah Mathew and McNamara, {Sarah A.} and Purzycki, {Benjamin G.} and Montserrat Soler and Weigel, {Jonathan L.} and Willard, {Aiyana K.} and Dimitris Xygalatas and Ara Norenzayan and Joseph Henrich and Martin Lang and Atkinson, {Quentin D.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.",

year = "2022",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1080/2153599X.2021.2006292",

language = "English",

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Vardy, T, Moya, C, Placek, CD, Apicella, CL, Bolyanatz, A, Cohen, E, Handley, C, Kundtová Klocová, E, Lesorogol, C, Mathew, S, McNamara, SA, Purzycki, BG, Soler, M, Weigel, JL, Willard, AK, Xygalatas, D, Norenzayan, A, Henrich, J, Lang, M & Atkinson, QD 2022, 'The religiosity gender gap in 14 diverse societies', Religion, Brain and Behavior, vol. 12, no. 1-2, pp. 18-37. https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2021.2006292

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T1 - The religiosity gender gap in 14 diverse societies

AU - Vardy, Tom

AU - Moya, Cristina

AU - Placek, Caitlyn D.

AU - Apicella, Coren L.

AU - Bolyanatz, Alexander

AU - Cohen, Emma

AU - Handley, Carla

AU - Kundtová Klocová, Eva

AU - Lesorogol, Carolyn

AU - Mathew, Sarah

AU - McNamara, Sarah A.

AU - Purzycki, Benjamin G.

AU - Soler, Montserrat

AU - Weigel, Jonathan L.

AU - Willard, Aiyana K.

AU - Xygalatas, Dimitris

AU - Norenzayan, Ara

AU - Henrich, Joseph

AU - Lang, Martin

AU - Atkinson, Quentin D.

PY - 2022/4

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N2 - Scholars of religion have long sought to explain the persistent finding that women tend to report greater religiosity than men. However, the size of this “gender gap” may depend on the measure of religiosity employed, the religious tradition being sampled, and socio-demographic factors. Here, we conduct a systematic cross-cultural investigation into the prevalence of, and explanations for, the religiosity gender gap in 2,002 individuals from 14 diverse societies. While variation exists across societies, women in general indicate greater mental commitment (i.e., thinking and worrying more about) to their community’s moralistic god, more frequent participation in rituals for their community’s moralistic god, and more frequent prayer. While we find that the gender gap extends beyond the Christian world, no such difference was seen in religious commitment towards more local gods, to which men tend to show greater commitment. Tentative support is provided for explanations relating gender differences in religiosity to lower formal education and greater mentalizing among women, however an explanation for greater religious commitment to local gods among men remains elusive. Nevertheless, our data suggest that the moralizing gods of some contemporary world religions, unlike local deities and traditions, have evolved in ways that make them more appealing to women.

AB - Scholars of religion have long sought to explain the persistent finding that women tend to report greater religiosity than men. However, the size of this “gender gap” may depend on the measure of religiosity employed, the religious tradition being sampled, and socio-demographic factors. Here, we conduct a systematic cross-cultural investigation into the prevalence of, and explanations for, the religiosity gender gap in 2,002 individuals from 14 diverse societies. While variation exists across societies, women in general indicate greater mental commitment (i.e., thinking and worrying more about) to their community’s moralistic god, more frequent participation in rituals for their community’s moralistic god, and more frequent prayer. While we find that the gender gap extends beyond the Christian world, no such difference was seen in religious commitment towards more local gods, to which men tend to show greater commitment. Tentative support is provided for explanations relating gender differences in religiosity to lower formal education and greater mentalizing among women, however an explanation for greater religious commitment to local gods among men remains elusive. Nevertheless, our data suggest that the moralizing gods of some contemporary world religions, unlike local deities and traditions, have evolved in ways that make them more appealing to women.

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KW - Cultural evolution

KW - moralistic gods

KW - risk

KW - secularization

KW - supernatural punishment

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DO - 10.1080/2153599X.2021.2006292

M3 - Journal article

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VL - 12

SP - 18

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The religiosity gender gap in 14 diverse societies

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