Why are Women More Religious than Men? Do Risk Preferences and Genetic Risk Predispositions Explain the Gender Gap?

Risk preference theory argues that the gender gap in religiosity is caused by greater female risk aversion. Although widely debated, risk preference theory has been inadequately tested. Our study tests the theory directly with phenotypic and genetic risk preferences in three dimensions—general, impu...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Li, Yi (Author) ; Woodberry, Robert Dudley (Author) ; Guo, Guang (Author) ; Liu, Hexuan (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2020]
In: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Year: 2020, Volume: 59, Issue: 2, Pages: 289-310
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Woman / Religiosity
IxTheo Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
ZB Sociology
Further subjects:B genetic risk preferences
B Gender
B Religiosity
B risk preferences
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:Risk preference theory argues that the gender gap in religiosity is caused by greater female risk aversion. Although widely debated, risk preference theory has been inadequately tested. Our study tests the theory directly with phenotypic and genetic risk preferences in three dimensions—general, impulsive, and sensation-seeking risk. Moreover, we examine whether the effects of different dimensions of risk preferences on the gender gap vary across different dimensions of religiosity. We find that general and impulsive risk preferences do not explain gender differences in religiosity, whereas sensation-seeking risk preference makes the gender gap in self-assessed religiousness and church attendance insignificant, but not belief in God, prayer, or importance of religion. Genetic risk preferences do not remove any of the gender gaps in religiosity, suggesting that the causal order is not from risk preference to religiosity. Evidence suggests that risk preferences are not a strong predictor for gender differences in religiosity.
ISSN:1468-5906
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12657