To Know and Be Known: An Intimacy‐Based Explanation for the Gender Gap in Biblical Literalism

Abstract

We assess the gender gap in U.S. Christianity by examining in a national sample (Baylor Religion Survey 2010) a particularly robust measure of religiosity: biblical literalism. Women are more likely to report biblical literalism than men in bivariate comparisons, but we argue that intimate attachment to God is a related intervening mechanism. The results of this study indicate: (1) intimate attachment to God is associated with more literal views of the Bible, (2) after accounting for attachment to God women are no longer associated with increased literalism, (3) divine proximity‐seeking behaviors are associated with more literal views of the Bible, (4) proximity‐seeking moderates the relationship between attachment to God and Bible views, and (5) gender moderates the relationship between both attachment to God and proximity‐seeking behaviors and Bible views. The evidence presented here provides a plausible mechanism by which gender differences in biblical literalism may be accounted for.

Mattering to God and to the Congregation: Gendered Effects in Mattering as a Mechanism Between Religiosity and Mental Health

“…However, women holding a judgmental image of God reported a lower sense of mattering, which explained the association between judgmental images of God and both depressive symptoms and anxiety. Recent scholarship suggests that women tend to be more securely attached to God, holding images of God as a loving, caring figure (Jung 2020;Kent and Pieper 2019). While feeling close to God may provide a believer another figure whom one matters to, viewing this deity as judgmental may spur negative thoughts about the self.…”

“…Furthermore, on almost every indicator of religiosity, women tend to be more religious than men (Stark 2002), reporting a higher frequency of private prayer (Maselko and Kubzansky 2006) and more frequent church attendance than men (Schnabel 2018), although it should be noted that this gender gap in religiosity is mainly evident among Christian groups in the United States (Schnabel 2015(Schnabel , 2018. Women also seem to have different images of God than men, on average possessing a more positive image of God and a more personal relationship with Him (Kent and Pieper 2019;Ozorak 1996). Though there is no agreed upon explanation for gender differences in religiosity (see, for instance, Di 2020; Francis 1997; Hoffmann 2019), socialization theories emphasize the dissimilarities between men and women as differences in social experiences, with women socialized to be gentle and nurturing and men to be ambitious and aggressive, with the former traits more congruent with religious emphases.…”

Religion and Spirituality among American Indian, South Asian, Black, Hispanic/Latina, and White Women in the Study on Stress, Spirituality, and Health

“…The SS‐1 was fielded in five U.S.‐based NIH‐funded cohort studies, with a total N of 3,602 for women across cohorts (SHS = 404, MASALA = 449, BWHS = 1005, HCHS/SOL = 635, NHSII = 1109). Notably, due to the gendered nature of religious practice (Avishai, Jafar, and Rinaldo 2015; Kent and Pieper 2019; Schnabel 2015; Sullins 2006) and the fact that NHS2 and BWHS are composed only of women, the present study focuses on the R/S of women only. Table S1 provides descriptive data for men in MASALA, SHS, and HCHS/SOL, and we encourage interested readers to examine it.…”

Against Such Things There is No Law: Evangelical College Students’ Perceptions of the Fruit of the Spirit as Primarily Gendered

“…It is also possible that traditional beliefs about gender roles not only result from scriptural literalism, but also stem from a broader understanding of how one should relate with God. Kent and Pieper (2019) described intimate and secure attachment styles with God as a “measure of felt closeness to God as well as a perception that God is responsive and available” (p. 233). Such a pattern of having a secure attachment to God related to a variety of behaviors, including Bible study, prayer, and church attendance, that they likened to the proximity-seeing behaviors a young child engages in with a caregiver.…”

“…An additional question concerns whether larger Christian beliefs relate to participants’ understandings of the Fruit of the Spirit as primarily neutral or gendered. Secure attachment to God, previously linked to an increase in biblical literalism (Kent & Pieper, 2019), might also be linked to an increase in traditional views of gender as participants who have high views of biblical literalism are also more likely to report benevolent sexist beliefs (Burn & Busso, 2005).…”