Differences in Religiousness in Opposite-Sex and Same-Sex Twins in a Secular Society.

ABSTRACT: Sex differences in religion are well known, with females generally being more religious than males, and shared environmental factors have been suggested to have a large influence on religiousness. Twins from opposite-sex (OS) and same-sex (SS) pairs may differ because of a dissimilar psycho-social rearing environment and/or because of different exposures to hormones in utero. We hypothesized that OS females may display more masculine patterns of religiousness and, vice versa, that OS males may display more feminine patterns. We used a web-based survey conducted in Denmark, which is a secular society. The survey included 2,997 twins aged 20-40 years, identified through the population-based Danish Twin Registry. We applied la Cour and Hvidt's adaptation of Fishman's three conceptual dimensio

SUBMITTER: Ahrenfeldt LJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4932148 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature