Examining Gendered Expectations in Christian Leadership and the Gender Punishment Gap

Female religious leaders often face more obstacles in their occupation than male religious leaders, yet research on the gender double standard has yet to be examined in the field of religious leadership. The current study explored the gender double standard in religious leadership by examining perceptions of male and female religious leaders and whether leaders will face similar consequences post-transgression. Christian participants were asked to read fictional vignettes: first a brief description of a male or female religious leader and then a fictitious news article describing the leader committing a transgression (financial or personal). Through questionnaires, participants evaluated the leader and indicated their intentions to attend the leader’s church before and after being exposed to the transgression. Participants then rated the sinfulness of the transgression and if the leader should be punished. Additionally, participants completed measures of intrinsic/extrinsic religious orientation, quest orientation, and post-critical beliefs. Regression analyses revealed no significant differences in evaluations of leaders based on gender alone. However, religious characteristics like intrinsic religiosity and a literal interpretation of religious content did predict greater intentions of church attendance for the male leader compared to the female leader pre-transgression. Additionally, regardless of the leader’s gender, the financial transgression was rated more negatively than the personal transgression. The findings of this study can be used to help bridge the gap between attendance of male and female-led churches by focusing on certain beliefs that lead to this gender bias.