Significant changes are unfolding among American men, with Gen Z at the center of the trend.
One of the clearest signs of that divide came during the 2024 presidential election. Men aged 18 to 29 shifted sharply to the right: Roughly 56 percent voted for President Donald Trump — a stark reversal from 2020, when about the same share supported Joe Biden, according to Associated Press VoteCast exit polling. Not since George H. W. Bush’s 1988 victory has a majority of young male voters backed a Republican for president.
The shift is also showing up in attitudes about gender roles worldwide. A new international survey found that 31% of Gen Z men say a wife should always obey her husband, while about one-third believe husbands should have the final say in major household decisions. While older generations of men are still more likely to hold traditional views overall, researchers say the results challenge the assumption that younger men are uniformly moving toward more egalitarian beliefs. The United States ranked roughly in the middle among the countries surveyed — including Japan and Mexico — when it came to support for traditional gender roles.
Here’s a closer look at why some Gen Z men are gravitating toward traditional institutions and values — and what it could mean for politics, faith, and society.
Are Gen Z men really becoming more religious and conservative?
While Gen Z overall remains less religious than earlier generations, young men appear somewhat more likely than young women to remain affiliated with organized religion, particularly conservative Christianity.
Data from a 2023 survey by the American Enterprise Institute’s Survey Center on American Life underscores the gap: 34 percent of Gen Z men say they have no religious affiliation, compared with 39 percent of women.
Long-term data paints a clearer picture. In the U.S., the percentage of Gen Z men identifying as religiously unaffiliated has remained relatively stable over the past decade, staying around 35–36 percent, according to the nonprofit Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). This suggests that this cohort isn’t increasingly moving away from religion, as has been the case with Americans at large in recent years. In contrast, the same survey found that the share of young women in the same age group identifying as unaffiliated has risen from 29 percent in 2013 to 40 percent in 2024, showing a clear shift away from organized religion among women. In other words, Gen Z men aren’t becoming dramatically more religious — young women are becoming much less so.
This marks a striking reversal of historical norms — not just in the U.S., but globally. Social scientists have long found that women tend to be more religious than men across most societies and faith traditions. In a 2024 interview with Katie Couric Media, PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman said that gap has historically been shaped in part by social roles.
"For most of American history, women didn’t really work much outside the home. Now, of course, there were always women who did — don’t get me wrong,” Deckman told us. “But generally speaking, the church provided a socially accepted space where women could take on leadership roles, organize, and be part of a larger community beyond the home. Churches have always relied on the unpaid labor of women."
Ryan Burge, a political scientist at Eastern Illinois University, noted in a 2024 interview with Katie Couric Media that by some measures — such as church attendance — young men may actually be more religious than young women. About 30 percent of men reported attending church weekly, compared with 27 percent of women, according to data reported by the nonprofit news site Religion Unplugged. That marks a reversal from 2000, when 47 percent of women and 38 percent of men said they attended weekly services.
What’s driving this shift among Gen Z men?
This phenomenon seems to be driven by a mix of cultural, psychological, political, and digital forces.
At its heart, Deckman argues, the shift is a reaction to the ways young men are struggling — especially when compared with their female peers. Today, about 60 percent of college students are women, while men make up just 40 percent, a gap that would have been unthinkable a few decades ago. Young men are also lagging on several traditional markers of stability, including education and workforce participation, which some researchers say can fuel a sense of displacement.
One of the loudest responses is the rise of the “manosphere” — a sprawling, loosely connected ecosystem of YouTube channels, Reddit forums, and TikTok accounts where a combative vision of masculinity is taking root. In these spaces, anti-woke, anti-feminist, and pro-tradition messages dominate, fueled by a sense of lost status and growing frustration.
“There has been a real emphasis on Christian manhood, fueling a sense of masculine resentment — blaming feminism, liberalism, and so-called 'woke culture' for displacing masculine authority and robbing men of what they believe is rightfully theirs," Kristin Du Mez, a history professor at Calvin University told Katie Couric Media in 2024.
Religion — particularly conservative Christianity — is now being reimagined as a kind of countercultural refuge. Men are encouraged to reclaim a sense of identity and purpose, pushing back against the perceived pressures of modern secular progressivism. Influencers like Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson amplify this worldview, packaging traditional gender roles, self-discipline, and faith into viral, bite-sized content.
“A common theme is that men have lost their way,” Deckman explained. “They argue that what we really need to make America great again is a return to a time when young men were stronger and in charge.”
Politics is another major force influencing the shift of young men toward more conservative and religious views.
“Young men tend to be more moderate, while young women — particularly those who are college-educated — are much more liberal,” Burge told us. “This divide is especially pronounced on social issues, such as acceptance of transgender people, where young men and young women differ by about 18 percentage points.”
Amidst this growing political polarization and the broader mental health crisis, Deckman notes that religion may also serve as a source of structure, meaning, and belonging.
“We’re having this big, ongoing conversation about the harmful effects of social media on kids,” she said. “And in the midst of that, people are looking for something that offers comfort, meaning, and purpose. In some ways, I think religious institutions can help provide that.”
What does it all mean?
The widening gender gap in religion and conservatism — with young men becoming more religious and right-leaning while young women trend secular and progressive — carries far-reaching cultural and political consequences.
As values diverge, romantic compatibility is becoming increasingly strained. Religious Gen Z men, for example, may prioritize traditional family structures, while secular women often value independence and egalitarian partnerships. Dating apps both reflect and reinforce these divides, offering filters based on religious affiliation and political ideology.
The effects are already visible: More women are prioritizing their careers and autonomy, with only 34 percent actively seeking a relationship, compared to 54 percent of men, according to the Pew Research Center. Many young women say they simply don’t feel they need a relationship the way previous generations did, citing financial independence and career goals.
These shifts could deepen existing demographic challenges. The U.S. marriage rate is near an all-time low, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last year that the number of births fell by an average of 2 percent annually between 2015 and 2020 — even before the pandemic accelerated declines.
Du Mez warned that the growing divide between young men and women is having serious consequences.
“Young men and women are no longer gathering in the same social spaces and are instead spending time in increasingly separate media echo chambers,” the history professor told us. “All of this creates the conditions for unhealthy relationships and, ultimately, a destabilized social order.”
In the U.S., where religion and politics are deeply intertwined, a gender-based realignment could intensify political polarization even more. As men move right, they may bolster support for populist or socially conservative candidates. Meanwhile, women drifting left could strengthen progressive coalitions focused on issues like reproductive rights and secular governance. It’s no longer just a red-versus-blue divide — we’re seeing a growing split between male and female worldviews.
Religious institutions aren't immune to these shifts either. While some young men may find structure and meaning in church communities, the absence of women could lead to unintended consequences. Without their traditional contributions to organizing, volunteering, and leading, these institutions risk becoming weaker, more insular, and less connected to the broader community.
“Women have long been the backbone of American Christianity throughout much of the nation's history,” said Du Mez. “This raises some very practical questions: Will men step into those roles? Will churches undergo dramatic transformations? Or could this ultimately lead to the weakening of religious institutions — and perhaps Christianity itself?”
What began as a quiet drift in values is now a widening fault line — reshaping how Gen Z finds meaning, love, and community in a fractured world.
