In 29 of those countries, more women than men reported praying daily by margins of 10 percentage points or more, ranging upward to 25 points in Greece.7 Similarly, Christian women are more likely than Christian men to say religion is “very important” to them by an overall average of 7 percentage points across 54 countries. In 15 of those countries, more women than men say this by margins ranging from 10 percentage points in Peru, Chile and the United States to 23 points in South Korea. When it comes to weekly attendance at religious services, however, the pattern is very different: Muslim men are more likely than Muslim women to regularly attend services by an average of 28 percentage points across the 39 countries where Muslim attendance data were collected. Survey data on Jewish attendance at religious services are available for only two countries, Israel and the United States, which together account for about 80% of the world’s total Jewish population.

In the United States, the pattern of women being more religious also appears among the unaffiliated (people who identify as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” and sometimes are called the “nones”). Data for this report is drawn from nationally representative telephone surveys conducted from June 10 to Aug. 3, 2020, among 14,276 adults in 14 advanced economies: the United States, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and South Korea. Men and women in the United States differ from each other in their levels of religious commitment to a greater extent than men and women differ in other economically advanced countries for which data are available, including Canada and the United Kingdom. There is virtually no difference between the shares of Muslim women and Muslim men who say religion is “very important” to them in the 40 countries with data on this topic.

In 46 of the 84 countries for which data are available, women and men are about equally likely to say religion is “very important” in their lives. For example, out of 63 countries, both genders are equally likely to believe in heaven in 47 countries and to believe in hell in 52 countries. For example, women are more likely than men to say they believe in heaven in 15 countries and more likely than men to say they believe in hell in 10 countries. By drawing on data from more Muslim-majority countries and non-European countries than previous studies, this report demonstrates that the gender gap is not consistent across societies or religious traditions; differences in religious commitment between men and women vary considerably around the globe. On some charts, gender differences that may appear to be large are labeled as not statistically significant because of small sample sizes of women and men in particular religious groups. When there is a close resemblance or “exact similarity” among objects then we may infer a similar cause. Apart from the comparative phenomenological studies, there has also been a strong growth of historical work in regard to particular religions.

This suggests that while gender differences in religious commitment may be driven in part by the teachings of a particular religion, they also may reflect national habits or cultural views intrinsic to a particular part of the world. Data for a particular religious group in each country are used only if that group had at least 300 survey respondents. Survey data from 63 countries regarding beliefs in heaven, hell and angels indicate that men and women usually display similar levels of belief in these concepts. Nearly three-in-ten Americans (28%) report stronger personal faith because of the pandemic, and the same share think the religious faith of Americans overall has strengthened, according to the survey of 14 economically developed countries. By a certain custom in effect over the course of many years, all of the crafts of the city of York have taken upon themselves the presentation of a lavish play (its various pageants, taken together, telling the story of the Old and New Testaments) each year at the festival of Corpus Christi, at various stations in the city; at the same time they make a solemn procession in honour of the blessed sacrament representing the body of Christ.