Gender ratio imbalance among Utah Mormons

[_Maksutov]

https://religionnews.com/2015/09/16/mor ... y-in-utah/

RNS: Your research suggests that the increasingly imbalanced sex ratio among Utah Mormons is like the canary in the proverbial coal mine: this is a sign of something bigger, that Utah Mormons are actually becoming less religious. You attribute the gender gap to a growing trend of apostasy among Mormon men. Can you explain?

Phillips: There has been a general secularizing trend in the United States for the past 25 years. People are abandoning organized religion in large numbers, and those with no denominational affiliation now constitute about 20% of the population. Mormonism is not immune from this trend, and defections from Mormonism are more common than they have been in the past. In the 1970s and 80s, surveys showed that the church retained about 90 percent of its cradle members. But in the latest Pew Religious Landscape Survey, 36% of respondents raised LDS have abandoned their faith. Just as women outnumber men in conservative denominations, men substantially outnumber women among those abandoning religion. This is true for Mormons as well.

Also, this trend in religious disaffiliation is most pronounced among young people in their late teens and early 20s, which is a datum that is important to remember.

So, one explanation for what’s going on is that we are seeing how a general pattern in American religious demography is manifesting itself in a Mormon context.

.......

RNS: Why does this affect men more than women?

Phillips: We hypothesize that the consequences of declining Mormon majorities in Utah affect men more than women for one simple reason. At age 18 (19 when these data were collected) LDS boys are confronted with the mandate to serve a full-time mission. This is precisely the age when religiosity is at its nadir. In the past, social pressure to serve a mission prompted many young men in Utah with marginal religious commitment to bite the bullet and go. The stigma of failing to serve a mission in some Utah towns was severe, and had serious social consequences. This is well documented in the sociological literature. Now however, the stigma is waning. Non-LDS friends and others who have chosen not to serve missions are more abundant, and provide refuge from disapproval.

We suggest that the mandate to serve a mission forces the hand of young men in Utah, and essentially “outs” those who don’t want to go as less committed to the church. Being thusly “outed” then lowers the costs of, and provides a pathway for, eventual disaffection. And this contributes to a rising sex ratio disparity among Utah Mormons that doesn’t manifest elsewhere.

[_Meadowchik]

I offer an additional explanation for the imbalance: if we assume that we gravitate towards perceived safety, in a world where sexism is still common and especially in Utah, many Mormon females may feel safer within the church than without. In Riess' study, only about 9 percent of males' exit from the church was concerned with gender discrimination, much lower than the women who left.

[_Fence Sitter]

I offer an additional explanation for the imbalance: if we assume that we gravitate towards perceived safety, in a world where sexism is still common and especially in Utah, many Mormon females may feel safer within the church than without. In Riess' study, only about 9 percent of males' exit from the church was concerned with gender discrimination, much lower than the women who left.

I largely agree with you but would use the word "support" over "safety" here. Especially in Utah where in addition to being looked to more and more for family financial contributions, they are still viewed as being responsible for the primary care for children. The Utah church provides a large pool of women who are dealing with these same expectations who can bond with each other.

Of course, being male, I may be underestimating the degree to which women actually consider safety an issue here.

[_Meadowchik]

I offer an additional explanation for the imbalance: if we assume that we gravitate towards perceived safety, in a world where sexism is still common and especially in Utah, many Mormon females may feel safer within the church than without. In Riess' study, only about 9 percent of males' exit from the church was concerned with gender discrimination, much lower than the women who left.

I largely agree with you but would use the word "support" over "safety" here. Especially in Utah where in addition to being looked to more and more for family financial contributions, they are still viewed as being responsible for the primary care for children. The Utah church provides a large pool of women who are dealing with these same expectations who can bond with each other.

Of course, being male, I may be underestimating the degree to which women actually consider safety an issue here.

I'm including the deep psychological level of safety here. I'm of the mind that our subconscious selves have much to do with our ability to question our own beliefs.

[_reflexzero]

The thing that kept my spouse in the church for the final 6 months was the paralyzingly fear of losing that female support structure and friends, but eventually the cost of staying was greater than the cost of leaving.

I can see how it would be so difficult for so many who are dependant in it for a sense of belonging and sanity.

[_MsJack]

My now-ex-BIL was pretty much railroaded by his family into serving a mission. I was surprised when his parents said he was serving as he had told me in his mid-teens he didn't believe in the church. I was not surprised to hear that he hated going through the temple, and was even less surprised when he fled from the Provo MTC a couple of days into his time there.

He took off to Japan and now has 1.74M followers on YouTube (which I'm sure amounts to some pretty good money). I'm not sure what his relationship to the church is now; I haven't spoken to him in years, but I very much doubt he's active or believing.

I wonder how things would have gone for him if his hand hadn't been forced by a mission.

[_DoubtingThomas]

And this contributes to a rising sex ratio disparity among Utah Mormons that doesn’t manifest elsewhere.

The total Church membership consisted of 90 males for every 100 females in 2011. By contrast, in the entire world’s population, there were 101 males for every 100 females (fig. 3). Only in Africa did the ratio of males to females in the Church exceed 1 (118 males for every 100 females).

https://byustudies.byu.edu/content/gend ... -worldwide

[_DoubtingThomas]

Almost 80 LDS men for every 100 LDS women in South America. I wonder what the hell are the Elders doing.

[_Mormonicious]

Imbalance is Not Possible.

What you call imbalance, Horny Holy Joe would call PERFECT!