Kalifa Smith and Dr. Jessica Preece, Political Science
Women are greatly underrepresented in politics. Researchers have studied many potential explanations for this such as the competitive nature of politics, gender role socialization, institutional structures, etc. Yet there is little research on the role of religious socialization on women’s political ambition. In this study I hypothesize that religious leaders are powerful socializers and can increase their church members’ level of political efficacy, thus leading to increased political participation. Through an experimental survey, I examine whether the topics that the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS/Mormon) chooses to focus on affect their church members’ level of political efficacy, particularly among female members. I found that women who receive a message that they are needed in politics have a higher level of political efficacy than those who receive a message about the importance of their family responsibilities.
To better understand the effect of messages from the LDS First Presidency on political efficacy among church members, I conducted an experimental survey of 200 respondents, 195 of which identified as members of the LDS Church. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of three messages from the First Presidency. The control message was a quote from “The Living Christ.” The first treatment was a quote from “The Family Proclamation,” and the second treatment was a quote from a First Presidency letter regarding political participation.
Respondents were then asked to indicate their level of agreement with five questions that measured different aspects of political efficacy. The five questions topics were the 1) importance of personal political participation, 2) level of perceived personal influence on political leaders, 3) importance of making time to personally participate in politics, 4) importance of personally running for office, and 5) level of perceived personal ability to make a difference politically. I then combined these variables to create a single variable measuring political efficacy.
I ran multiple statistical tests to measure the difference in political efficacy levels between those who received the family quote and those who received the political quote. With 90% confidence, I found that there was a statistically significant difference between the political efficacy levels among women between the two groups. In terms of percent change, I compared responses from LDS female participants across treatments to see what percentage of respondents fell into either high or low political efficacy levels. Among those who received the family responsibility quote, only 30% of respondents had a high level of efficacy. Alternatively, the percentage rose to 47% among those who received the political participation quote (see Figure 1).
I also analyzed an individual question from the efficacy index to see if the difference between treatments was significant. For the question, “I feel my participation is a necessary part of the political process,” I found that there was a statistically significant difference between the treatment group who received the family quote and the group that received the political quote. Among those who received the family responsibility quote, only 16% of respondents strongly agreed with this statement, as opposed to 41% of those who received the political quote (see Figure 2).
The results of this survey suggest that messages from the First Presidency regarding the importance of political participation have a positive effect on political efficacy among LDS female members and that religious socialization is an important factor in how individuals view their effectiveness in participating in politics. This research is limited in a few ways. First, it is not a fully representative sample since over half of the respondents are students. Second, I was also unable to find a quote from the First Presidency specifically encouraging women to become more involved in politics. Lastly, the study does not measure an actual increase in political participation. In spite of these limitations the findings do suggest that religious socialization is an important factor in political efficacy and is a compelling area for further research.
