Author Date

2026-4

Degree Name

Department

Political Science

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Defense Date

2026-03-04

Publication Date

2026-03-16

First Faculty Advisor

Jessica Preece

First Faculty Reader

Quin Monson

Second Faculty Reader

Heather Belnap

Honors Coordinator

Doug Atkinson

Keywords

political ambition, gender, religiosity, Utah

Abstract

What role does religiosity play in political ambition for men and women, especially for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah? Research on political ambition and gender has not typically focused on religiosity, but the few researchers that have studied it focus on a metric called “Biblical literalism” (Cassese and Holman 2016). I agree with research claiming that religiosity effect on political ambition is gendered, but take a different approach in crafting a religion-based relationally embedded model of political ambition, specifically in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Carroll and Sanbonmatsu 2013). Female members of the Church are socialized to understand the importance of family, and I hypothesize this unique socialization will require the input of others in their choice to run for office. Using data from the November 2024 Utah Voter Poll, I do not find evidence of the religion-based relationally embedded model, but find that the relationship between gender, religiosity, and political ambition may need to be considered in a different way. Proposing a new theory, I claim that the gendered socialization from the Church discourages political ambition in women but can encourage political ambition in men, which leaves space for further research on gendered religious socialization and political ambition.