Recent research published in Religious Science Research Journal Explore how particular religious worldviews regarding gender roles influence attitudes toward reproduction and the state. The findings provide evidence that beliefs in God-ordained roles for men and women are strongly associated with support for domestic population growth and restrictions on reproductive rights. This association suggests that these religious views shape not only family relationships but also preferences for government policies.
Brooklyn Walker, assistant professor of political science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Paul A. Jupe, director of the Political Research Data Program at Denison University, wanted to understand how a concept known as complementarity influences political and social views. This ideology has also been prominent in recent political debates.
“We found that conversations about fertility increased significantly in the religious spaces we study,” Walker and Jupe explained. “And the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, reinvigorated the national debate on reproductive rights. A religious gender worldview called complementarity appeared to be lurking in the background.”
Complementarianism is a theological perspective found primarily within conservative Christianity. “Complementarianism asserts that God created the two sexes with different characteristics (such as men being aggressive and women nurturing), that men are leaders in church and family (and sometimes business and politics), and that the health of a culture depends on men and women fulfilling their respective gender roles,” the authors write.
“No one had yet developed a survey question to measure complementarity. We were interested not only in whether complementarity was related to attitudes about fertility and reproductive rights, but also in the types of babies people considered desirable,” they said.
To test these ideas, researchers surveyed approximately 3,300 U.S. adults between September and October 2025. They used a sample designed to match national demographics in terms of age, gender, race, and region. Participants completed a series of questionnaires measuring political and social views, along with various demographic surveys.
To measure complementarism, the survey asked respondents to rate their agreement with six specific statements. The statements assessed whether participants believed that men and women have fundamentally different but complementary roles. The researchers also measured the participants’ levels of hostile sexism and benevolent sexism and directly compared these psychological traits to their religious worldviews.
The survey then asked about national natalism, the idea that a declining birth rate threatens a country’s vitality. Natalism is a movement or ideology that encourages human reproduction. The authors asked whether people specifically prefer population growth due to white couples or whether they prefer population growth due to Christian couples.
Other questions focused on attitudes toward banning contraception, outlawing the morning-after pill, and preventing women from traveling across state lines for abortion care. Finally, an experiment was conducted to test attitudes toward abortion by asking different groups about restrictions on abortion at different stages of pregnancy.
Walker and Jupe found that complementarian beliefs strongly predicted a country’s desire for population growth. “Complementarianism is more important than other variables, such as religious service attendance, religious tradition, and political party identity,” the authors told SciPost.
People who hold this view tend to view the decline in the birth rate as a national welfare issue and are concerned about the decline in the birth rate. “For example, people who fully embrace complementarian beliefs are 30 percentage points more likely to express pronatalist attitudes than those who completely reject complementarity,” the researchers explained. “That’s after controlling for religious, political and demographic factors.”
In addition to the general desire to have more babies, complementarity is also associated with specific demographic preferences. “Complementarianism is strongly related to natalism, the belief that more children should be born in the United States, but not just any child, especially white and Christian children,” Walker and Jupe noted.
The authors observed that this religious worldview led to support for strict government control over women’s fertility. “Complementarians are also more likely to oppose access to contraception, support abortion bans regardless of stage of pregnancy, and support bans that prevent women from traveling out of state to receive abortion care,” Walker and Jupe noted. “This is a worldview created to counter feminism and bind women to the home and reproduction.”
The researchers found that complementarity operates differently than standard sexism. “We compared complementarianism to some forms of secular sexism,” the authors say. “Hostile sexism openly despises women (‘women seek to gain power by dominating men’), while benevolent sexism confines women to traditional gender roles while seemingly shining a positive light on them (‘women tend to have superior moral sensibilities compared to men’).”
While hostile sexism involves a hostile view of women and benevolent sexism involves framing women as innocent but in need of men’s protection, complementarity was a stronger predictor of policy preferences. “Complementarianism is positively associated with both types of sexism, but its relationship with birtherism and reproductive rights is stronger than with either of these sexisms,” they continued.
Interestingly, these effects were similar across genders. “Also, the effects of complementarity are about the same for men and women, although men are slightly stronger proponents,” Walker and Jupe said. Religious worldviews amplify beliefs about government intervention almost equally for both male and female respondents.
Given these findings, a potential misunderstanding arises in assuming that complementarity is simply a lifestyle aesthetic. “It may be tempting to view this worldview as a throwback to the past, recently lampooned by ‘trad wives’ on Instagram,” the authors warn.
“However, supporters, both men and women, are devout Christians and are more likely to be Christian nationalists, with different ideas about social issues as well as the value of making fresh sourdough,” they added. “Their views about women in politics, for example, are well outside the mainstream.”
One limitation of this study is its reliance on an opt-in online panel rather than a traditional probability sample. This means that respondents voluntarily completed an online survey in exchange for compensation. Scientists weighted the data to match census estimates, but this method can affect how completely the results represent the population as a whole.
Looking ahead, scientists plan to continue investigating this ideology. “We are in the early stages of a book project that explores how complementarianism is important to political attitudes, including the repeal of the 19th Amendment, the use of political violence, political and social trust, and the role of women in politics,” Walker and Jupe said. “We are also beginning to explore why complementarianism is an attractive ideology for some men and women.”
The study, “Be Fruitful and Multiply? Complementarianism, Natalism, and the Suppression of Reproductive Rights,” was written by Brooklyn Walker and Paul A. Jupe.
