Criminologists are increasingly finding evidence that men are more inclined than women to commit violent crimes because of biological differences specifically linked to hormone levels, Stark said. For example, elevated testosterone levels have been linked to men engaging in more risky behaviors. For example, women are not likely to bludgeon someone, but they might poison someone. And women are just as likely as men to embezzle, he reported. The difference, some criminologists contend, is in shortsighted risk taking.
Men are far more likely than women to be extreme risk-takers.
The connection between this risk-taking and testosterone has been confirmed in other studies over the last two decades, including analysis of athletes using steroids and extensive research on Vietnam veterans. Stark thinks these findings may be the missing link to the gender gap in religious behavior. If women are more likely to avoid risk-taking, they naturally would be more likely than men not to take chances on the hereafter, Stark reasoned. He pointed to the famous philosophical tool known as Pascal's Wager, which says believing in God is the most logical option available, because even if God doesn't exist and doesn't promise eternal life, the believer loses nothing in the end. But if a person gambles on the belief that God does not exist, there's much more to lose if in fact it turns out God does exist.