Contrasting Experiences: Gender Disparities in Spirituality, Character Strengths, Mental Health, and Social Justice among Next-Generation Religious Leaders

Despite female religious leaders’ substantial historic and ongoing contributions worldwide, their experiences remain poorly understood in male-normative contexts, especially from an empirical perspective. This lack of understanding leads institutions to overlook heterogeneity and perpetuate male-normed formative experiences, with virtually no empirical studies investigating gender differences among religious leaders, particularly regarding mental health. The present study utilized a sample of 452 emerging religious leaders (50.2%, women) and a series of t -tests and ANCOVAs on self-report measures across domains of spirituality, character, emotional/mental health, and social values. Overall, women reported significantly higher character strengths and social justice values but lower emotional/mental health than men, even after controlling for covariates. Men reported higher Narcissism-Grandiosity and Spirituality, while women reported higher Narcissism-Vulnerability, though the Narcissism-Grandiosity effect disappeared after controlling for covariates. The authors identify potential drivers of differences and disparities while proposing recommendations for stakeholders in religious communities and higher education.