The Privileged Sex? An Examination of Gendered Beliefs and Well-Being in Evangelical Men

Abstract

The current study sought to investigate the relationship between benevolent sexism, gender role ideologies, and well-being in Evangelical men. Despite recent research that has established a relationship between restrictive gender beliefs and negative outcomes for women, few studies have addressed the relationship between these variables in men. Furthermore, Evangelical men’s specific experience has not been explored, in spite of religiosity’s association with these beliefs. Therefore, this study directly assessed relationship between well-being and two kinds of restrictive gender beliefs (i.e., benevolent sexism and traditional gender role ideology) in a sample of Evangelical men. Results showed that endorsement of benevolent sexism and traditional gender role ideology were related to lower levels of eudaimonic well-being for this population. Additionally, it was found that different patterns of relationship exist between restrictive gender beliefs and the two kinds of well-being: eudaimonic well-being (e.g., purpose and meaning) and hedonic well-being (e.g., pleasure and satisfaction) for this population. Specifically, the negative relationships with eudaimonic well-being were stronger than the negative relationships with aspects of hedonic well-being.