Work, family, and religious involvement for men and women

Do family formation and social establishment affect religious involvement i n the same way for men and women, given increasing individualism and rapid changes in work and family roles? Using a random sample of adults from upst ate New York (N = 1,006), our research builds on previous work in this area by using multiple measures of religious involvement, using multiple measur es of individualism and beliefs about work and family roles, placing men an d women in their work context, and looking at the relationships separately by gender. Men's religious involvement is associated with marriage, childre n, and full-time employment, signaling social establishment and maturity. W omen's involvement is higher when there are school-aged children in the hom e, but it is also more intertwined with the salience of religion and with a n assessment that religious institutions are a good fit with their values a nd lifestyles, including egalitarian views of gender. For men and women, vi , ws of religious authority and the role of religious institutions in the s ocialization of children are associated differently with religious involvem ent at different life stages. We call for further research to understand th e gendered nature of religious involvement and the role of beliefs about wo rk,family, and religion in explaining why individuals choose to be involved in religious institutions.