A qualitative analysis of the relationship between religion and women's self development

Abstract

This study explored women's spiritual experiences and the effects of patriarchal religions on women's lives. To understand how patriarchal beliefs affect women, a sample of twenty-one women answered open-ended questions about their self-perceptions, images of God, discrepancies between religious education and beliefs in feminist ideology, and views of other women. The participants' experiences describe their spiritual self as Explorers, Adherents, or Liberated women. The research revealed that seventy-one percent of the women categorized as Explorers had a discrepancy between their religious and feminist belief systems. To cope they used emotion focused/avoidance, problem-oriented/avoidance and problem-oriented/active coping strategies. Both the Adherent and Liberated women avoided discrepancies between belief systems. Furthermore, the Adherent and Explorers' religious role models were their mothers suggesting their religious beliefs were generational. Conversely, Liberated women found spiritual guidance in female ministers and other women in their lives. These women transcended generational patriarchal religious beliefs.