An Evolutionary Analysis of Gender and Reproduction in Latter-Day Saints

The members of the Latter-Day Saints (LDS) faith are urged to marry young and reproduce frequently. This can be seen in the young average age of first marriage and the average amount of children per household. We used a stratified random sample of LDS and non-LDS college students and recent graduates in Logan, UT (n=64) and College Station, Texas (n=19). These data were collected through an online survey (Qualtrics), consisting of 46 questions about demographics, reproductive behaviors, and life satisfaction. Our current results suggest that LDS students and recent graduates are more likely to be married than non-LDS survey respondents; 66% of LDS respondents (n=38) were married, compared to 1% of non-LDS respondents (n=33) and 17% of former LDS respondents (n=12). Of the married respondents, the average age of first marriage was 21 years for females and 25 for males. Male LDS respondents were less likely to report satisfaction with family life than females, including number of children (11% of males were dissatisfied or extremely dissatisfied, while 0% of females were). We found a positive correlation between being LDS and age of first marriage and reproduction. We also found differences in age of marriage, family, and professional life satisfaction between male and female LDS respondents, indicating that females place more importance on earlier reproduction