Eestimaa naiste usuga seotud hoiakutest „Elust, usust ja usuelust 2020“ põhjal

Women’s Attitudes towards Religion in Estonia Based on the „Life, Faith and Religious Life 2020“ Survey The puzzle of gender differences in religiosity, which are evident especially in Christian countries, have become one of the hotly debated topics in sociology of religion. The data from the 2020 Estonian survey „Life, Faith and Religious life“ show that while Estonia has been regarded as one of the most secularized countries in Europe, women still remain in most aspects markedly more religious than men. Most notably, Estonian women pray remarkably more often, but they also tend to self-identify themselves as believers, agree with Christian faith statements, appreciate church rites and hold New Age beliefs more than men. However, data from population censuses indicate the possibility of narrowing the gender faith gap in the future. Future qualitative research should find out, how these findings are related to different socialization of boys and girls in the past, as well as gender relations in contemporary Estonian society. Besides that, comparison of gender differences in religiosity among Estonians and Russian-speakers as well as gender relations within largely traditionalist major churches are among the most urgent research topics in that field in Estonia.