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Authors
Marta Trzebiatowska +1
Book Format
Hardback
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Published
October 2012
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Why are Women More Religious Than Men?
Today's Price £31.12
Why are Women More Religious Than Men?
by Marta Trzebiatowska +1
Hardback
+
Scottish Gods
by Steve Bruce
Paperback
Add both to basket for £55.08 and save £21.40
Women are more religious than men. Despite being excluded from leadership positions, in almost every culture and religious tradition, women are more likely than men to pray, to worship, and to claim that their faith is important to them. Women also dominate the world of 'New Age' spirituality and are far more superstitious than men. This book reviews the now-sizeable body of social research to consider if the gender gap in religion is indeed universal. Marta Trzebiatowska and Steve Bruce extensively critique competing explanations of the differences found. They conclude that the gender gap is not the result of biology but is rather the consequence of important social differences over-lapping and reinforcing each other. Responsibility for managing birth, child-rearing and death, for example, and attitudes to the body, illness and health, each play a part. In the West, the gender gap is exaggerated because the social changes that undermined the plausibility of religion bore most heavily on men first. Where the lives of men and women become more similar, and where religious indifference grows, the gender gap gradually disappears.
Written in an accessible style whilst drawing some robust conclusions, the book's main purpose is to serve as a state-of-the-art review for those interested in one of the largest differences between male and female behaviour.
Authors
Marta Trzebiatowska +1
Book Format
Hardback
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Published
October 2012
Weight
423g
Page Count
224
Dimensions
140 x 216 x 17 mm
ISBN
9780199608102
ISBN-10
0199608105
Eden Code
4514537
More Information
ISBN: 9780199608102
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Release Date: October 2012
Weight: 423g
Dimensions: 140 x 216 x 17 mm
Eden Code: 4514537
10 years ago
This is a fascinating exploration into what we all know to be true - women are more religious than men. In times past the posing of this question would have seemed bizarre. Faith was ubiquitous and gender studies were non-existent. Today our fascination with both secularisation and gender differences makes the question highly relevant.
Following a brief historical sojourn to establish the truth of the question, the authors explore this further with chapters that cover a wide range of conventional and innovative religious traditions. Having clearly established the apparent predisposition of women towards religion the authors consider the impact of gender attitudes, attitudes towards risk, lifestyle roles and secularisation. With each study the authors identify sometimes subtle, sometimes stark gender differences that impact on attitudes towards religion.
The answer the authors reach to their title question is that a combination of gender related issues - such as the caring and nurturing role that women disproportionately fulfil and the macho images associated with men - lead women to appear to be more religious than men. However this is not the end of the story; the authors argue that the process of secularisation has affected men more swiftly than women and that in time these differences in religious adherence will erode.
Academic studies into religions that are not in themselves works of faith offer the reader a refreshing insight into how faith is perceived. For those trying to attract men into church this book suggests perhaps that we need to focus not on trying to make church more appealing to men by focusing on their "manly" hobbies and traits, but by trying instead to nurture their caring identities, which after all, are not biological but socially inherited. A good read for those interested in delving deeper into a fascinating area of our common life.
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