Abstract
Gender differences in spirituality and related traits are an assumed reality despite the lack of empirical information that directly compares women and men. I used a national and longitudinal sample of 3,680 college students surveyed with the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman Survey (2000) and later with the College Students’ Beliefs and Values (CSBV) Survey (2003) to examine gender differences on 13 spiritual characteristics and explore the personal and educational factors associated with changes in spirituality during college. The results showed marked gender differences in spiritual qualities, and gendered patterns of spiritual development were identified that are associated with religious identity, peer relationships, and science exposure.
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Notes
The scales, along with Cronbach’s alphas and the items they represent, can be obtained from the author.
This finding should be interpreted with caution because it is based on just 17 Islamic students in the sample.
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Acknowledgement
The author thanks the Spirituality in Higher Education project’s co-principal investigators, Alexander Astin and Helen Astin, and Jennifer Lindholm, the project director, for the insight they provided throughout the preparation of this manuscript. The Spirituality in Higher Education project, on which this study is based, is funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
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Bryant, A.N. Gender Differences in Spiritual Development During the College Years. Sex Roles 56, 835–846 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9240-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9240-2