In a world where traditional gender roles often prevail, women continue to lead in religious devotion, raising questions about this enduring trend. A recent study sheds light on this phenomenon, examining why women remain more religious than men and how faith influences their lives.
Researchers Professor Sascha Becker from the University of Warwick, Jeanet Sinding Bentzen from the University of Copenhagen, and Chun Chee Kok from the Université Catholique de Louvain have explored this paradox in their study, Gender and Religion: A Survey, published in the Journal of Demographic Economics. This research comes as the Church of England marks a milestone with the appointment of its first female Archbishop of Canterbury.
Analyzing global survey data, the study confirms that women are more likely than men to identify with a religious tradition, pray regularly, and consider faith central to their lives. This pattern spans different countries, cultures, and major religions. Interestingly, while women attend religious services more frequently in Christian societies, men are the more frequent attendees in Muslim and Jewish contexts.
The researchers propose several explanations for these patterns, including women’s greater emotional expressiveness and caregiving roles. Historical ties between religious participation and the domestic sphere, where women traditionally spent more time, may also play a role.
Another perspective considers risk attitudes. As philosopher Blaise Pascal suggested, belief in God is a rational choice with potential infinite rewards, and modern studies find women to be more risk-averse, potentially making religion more appealing to them.
Religious communities often provide a social safety net, offering support during economic and personal hardships. In societies where women face barriers to status and employment, religion can offer meaning and leadership opportunities otherwise denied.
Historical examples, such as early 20th-century Korea, demonstrate how women’s involvement in religious leadership correlated with increased female participation in education and public life.
The study also notes that the gender gap in religiosity narrows with modernization and secularization, though it does not disappear entirely. For instance, married women are often found to be more religious than single women, possibly due to the societal expectations of religious involvement in marriage and motherhood.
Furthermore, men may substitute religious participation with non-religious activities like sports or social clubs, which can compete for time traditionally spent in worship.
The second part of the research delves into how religion affects women’s outcomes, using methods like natural experiments and policy changes to separate religious effects from cultural or economic factors.
Findings reveal that religion impacts women’s access to education, marital timing, labor market participation, reproductive rights, and fertility. Religious doctrines can shape laws and policies, either reinforcing inequality or empowering women.
Examples include early Protestant movements promoting literacy for all believers and the Taliban’s use of religion to exclude women from education. A generational shift is also observed, with younger women in countries like Australia, Europe, and North America disengaging from organized religion while young men become more religious.
Professor Becker highlights the ongoing puzzle of women’s greater religiosity despite patriarchal norms, stating, “An important question on which evidence is only beginning to emerge is whether the gender gap will close as societies modernize and secularize – or will deeper factors continue to draw women to faith?”
He continues, “Women’s participation in formal employment, their reproductive rights, and their legal rights and responsibilities are still shaped openly by religious teachings and indirectly through the influence of faith on legislators.”
He adds, “While the research we reviewed offers partial explanations, no single theory or study explains this paradox.”
This article was originally written by www.christiantoday.com
