Over the past few decades, researchers have been deeply interested in the way men and women perceive the notion of a god, or a higher, universal spirit. During the first such research, it came as no surprise to anyone that women believed in such entities more than men, but, in truth, no one could say for sure why that was. Some said at the time that the belief might come from motherly duties, while others argued that the higher percentage of religious women was owed to the fact that men liked to take chances.

And even if it doesn't sound too plausible, more men than women take the chance of going to Hell, or a similar place, depending on the religion they follow. Some researchers have it that a part of women are frightened by the threats in the Bible and other holy books, and that they would rather be “on the safe side.” There are, of course, those who truly believe and who could not conceive life without praying to their respective gods.

But, in addition to confirming all this knowledge, the new study based on a 2007 Pew Research survey further shows statistical correlations between several aspects of belief, as far as men and women go. For instance, 86 percent of women are associated with a religion, whereas only 79 percent of men have answered “yes” to this question. The new paper, published on Friday, details results obtained by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, after surveying some 35,000 adults.

As far as praying goes, the differences are even bigger. While 66 percent of women do it, only 49 percent of men dedicate at least a few minutes per day to their god. Furthermore, 65 percent of them do not even believe that a god, or a universal spirit, exists, and therefore do not recognize any authority higher than themselves. On the other hand, 77 percent of women believe this to be the case, with 58 percent of their total number advocating the existence of a personal god.

“A mountain of Gallup survey data attests to the idea that women are more religious than men, hold their beliefs more firmly, practice their faith more consistently, and work more vigorously for the congregation,” Gallup polling organization expert George H. Gallup Jr. shares.