| Abstract: | A number of scholars have argued that Catholicism is a barrierto gender equality in western Europe. The explanations for thisrelationship have usually focused on historical events and trends,which should result in a contextual effect, and on current churchdoctrine, which should affect individual level attitudes. Inthis paper, we test the importance of the individual and contextualeffects of Catholicism. We find individual Catholics are lesssupportive of gender equality than non-Catholics. Once we controlfor individual religious affiliation, however, we find thatthose in predominantly Catholic countries are more egalitarianthan those in predominantly Protestant ones. We conclude thatthis unusual result is due to the effects of minority religiousstatus—Protestants in predominantly Catholic countriesare more egalitarian than Protestants in Protestant countries,and Catholics in Protestant countries are less egalitarian thanthose in Catholic countries. |
