The average family of four may use up to 400 gallons of water a day, have an average of two cars, and make an average of $63,000 a year — and the woman of that family is more likely to be religious than the man, says a recent study from Pew Research.
Although many religious denominations allow only men to be part of the clergy “it often appears that the ranks of the faithful are dominated by women,” said the report.
The report showed that women, particularly Christian women, are more religious than men worldwide — an estimated 83% of women internationally identify with a faith group, compared with 80% of men.
The writers of the report, Conrad Hackett and Caryle Murphy, said that that was not a conclusion one could have reached just by observation.
Murphy said, “If you were a Christian woman in Kansas, and you and your husband both go to church, you might think men and woman are equally religious.”
But according to the report, women pray more than their male peers, attend church more, and are more likely to say that religion is important to them.
This was true across denominations, with the one exception being Muslims, who make up 23% of the world’s population. Muslim men attend mosque more than women, says Hackett.
The study also found that religiosity decreased among Christian women as they moved up the economic ladder. It was also found that people who declared no self-identified religious affiliation are more likely to be men: 55% to 45% for women.
The study did not answer some causal questions. For instance, the researchers did not evaluate how factors like theology, economics, and majority or minority gaps by race or religion make a difference to the general gap.
Linda Woodhead, a professor in the department of politics, philosophy, and religion at Lancaster University, commented that theology may have something to do with the difference between men and women in Christianity.
“Christianity is a highly feminized religion: Jesus is not all macho, unlike Muhammad,” commented Woodhead.