In Finland, around 540,000 men say they do not have a religious faith. For women, the number is 400,000. In general, all religions have more women followers than men.
According to the World Values 2005 research, over two thirds of Finnish women said they considered themselves to be religious. For men, the number was slightly over half.
”There isn’t a country in the world with more religious men than women. For example, although Islam is often considered quite masculine, in those circles women are more believers than men,” says researcher Kati Niemelä of the Church Research Institute.
”This difference is really universal. Even those religions that we see as being particularly patriarchal are more appealing to women than to men,” says Niemelä.
Researchers believe that this is ultimately due to biology. For example, men are considered to be greater risk takers than women. People who seek security in life are often more religious.
However, researchers say men are more likely to be religious fanatics than women.
