Gender, civic engagement, and the importance of integrating spirituality

ABSTRACT

Spirituality is associated with a variety of positive life outcomes, and the university experience has long been regarded as a critical period of spiritual identity development. A key explanation for why gender differences exist in the importance of integrating spirituality in one’s life may be that civic engagement is intervening in the relationship. We administered surveys to 964 first-year undergraduate students in the western United States. Women had higher scores for civic engagement and the importance of integrating spirituality into their lives than men. Civic engagement mediated the influence of gender on the importance of integrating spirituality into one’s life. Implications are discussed.

Plain Language Summary

• Spirituality has been found to make people’s lives better. Researchers are interested in finding out what kinds of things make people think spirituality is important in their lives. We found that a reason why women are more likely to consider spirituality as important is because they are more involved in their communities.

KEYWORDS:

• Spirituality
• civic engagement
• gender

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jeffrey A. Miles

Jeffrey A. Miles is a professor of management in the Eberhardt School of Business at University of the Pacific. He received his Ph.D. in management and human resources from The Ohio State University. His current research interests include work groups, self-concepts, and organizational justice. He wrote the book, Management and Organization Theory.

Stefanie E. Naumann

Stefanie E. Naumann is a professor of management in the Eberhardt School of Business at University of the Pacific. She received her Ph.D. in business administration from Louisiana State University. Her current research interests include employee attitudes and behaviors. Her work has appeared in journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Journal of Organizational Behavior.