“Who Will Save Your Soul?” Relationships between Gender, Religious Identity, and Religiosity in Predicting Proselytization among Christian Women and Men in the United States

Abstract

Proselytization is an important expression of religious belief for many Christian denominations as well as a conduit through which to grow church membership. While there is a large body of literature examining religious identity and forms of religiosity, there is little sociological research investigating proselytization. This study begins to address that oversight by examining proselytization among Christian women and Christian men in the United States. Using recent General Social Surveys, we employ logistic regression analyses to test the significance of religious identity, religiosity, and various controls on the likelihood that Christian women (n = 662) and Christian men (n = 519) have engaged in proselytization. Findings show that although Christian women may report a higher level of having proselytized compared to Christian men, analyzing women and men separately revealed some similarities and differences. Religious identity, particularly evangelical Protestant, and religiosity are significant predictors of proselytization among both groups. For Christian men, however, age and a belief in traditional gender roles also emerged as significant predictors of proselytization. Our results underscore the importance of examining religious identity, religiosity, and gender in understanding who may engage in “saving souls.”