Perceived gender of a pastor's name and ratings of vocational success

Abstract

Undergraduate students (16 men and 16 women) from a Christian university read a 1-page description of a pastor named either "Carl Anderson" or "Carol Anderson." Students rated each named pastor on four items summed for a measure of vocational success. We predicted, based on role congruity, that students would rate a female-named pastor lower than a male-named pastor on the measure, but women's ratings of pastoral vocational success were significantly higher. Men's ratings did not differ significantly for the male- and female-named pastors. Power was low so further research is appropriate.