Key to Donald Trump’s victory last fall was his ability to make inroads with voters who traditionally supported Democratic presidential candidates, including voters of color and younger voters — particularly men.
As journalists, activists and politicians all attempt to understand and explain Gen Zers’ reactions to the second Trump administration, I analyzed PRRI’s latest survey for clues about our nation’s youngest voters’ attitudes today.
In 2020, among Americans 18 to 29, majorities of women (67%) and men (53%) cast their ballots for Joe Biden, according to Pew’s validated voter files. Four years later, 46% of young men supported Donald Trump at the polls in 2024 (up from 39% in 2020) according to Pew — not as high a swing as some exit polls reported, but a significant increase, nonetheless. Trump’s support among young women inched up slightly (from 32% in 2020 to 34% in 2024), but young women voters remained far more likely to vote for Harris (63%) than men or women from older age cohorts.
This is one of many gender divides among adult members of Generation Z with respect to politics, religion and culture. While writing my book, The Politics of Gen Z, I found Gen Z women hold far more progressive views on a range of policy positions than Gen Z men, fueling Gen Z women’s higher levels of political engagement during the first Trump administration compared with their male counterparts.
“On some measures, Gen Z women and men are not as far apart as is often portrayed.”
Now close to a year into Trump’s second presidency, PRRI’s newly released 2025 American Values Survey shows deep divisions remain among Gen Z women and men. Perhaps surprisingly, however, on some measures, Gen Z women and men are not as far apart as is often portrayed.
Here are a few findings of note about Generation Z from this year’s American Values Survey.
Gen Zers view the direction of the country and Trump’s performance as president more negatively than other Americans, but Gen Z women stand out as particularly unhappy with the current state of politics.
Compared with older generations, Gen Z expresses the lowest approval rating of Donald Trump nearly one year into his term. While Trump remains under water with all Americans (56% disapprove vs. 42% approve), just 32% of Gen Z Americans approve of Trump’s performance as president. Gen Z women, however, rank Trump’s performance the weakest, with only 28% of Gen Z women approving, compared with 36% of Gen Z men.
Even fewer Gen Z women are optimistic about the direction of the country, with just 23% saying the country is headed in the right direction, a full 10 points lower than Gen Z men (33%). On both measures, Gen Z women are distinct not just from Gen Z men, but from older Americans.
Both Gen Z women and Gen Z men soundly reject the sexist trope that women’s gains in society are largely at men’s expense.
Most Gen Z men are familiar with the podcasters who populate the manosphere, which applied research organization Equimundo characterizes as a “broad collection of websites, forums and other online spaces characterized by their misogynistic and anti-feminist content.” Some of the most well-known manosphere figures, such as Andrew Tate, capitalize on the insecurities facing young men at a time of political alienation and economic uncertainty by insisting the real struggles often faced by Gen Z men are the result of the push by feminists for greater gender equality and the abandonment of traditional gender roles.
Yet, our survey data show the zero-sum game mentality pushed by manosphere figures is failing to resonate with Gen Z men: Just about one in four agree the gains women have made in society have come at the expense of men (28%), although they do so at higher rates than Gen Z women (19%).
Gen Z men and women stand apart, however, on other attitudes about gender and pronatalist policies.
PRRI long has asked Americans whether they think U.S. society has become too soft and feminine. Responses to this question are strongly linked to partisanship; for example, Republican women are far more likely to agree than Democratic men, although there are relatively minor gender differencesn among partisans, too.
But the gender gap on this measure among Gen Z women (27% who agree) and men (47% who agree) stands at 20 points. Messages from conservative political leaders and looksmaxxing, alpha male podcasters decrying men’s lack of masculinity no doubt play a part in driving such views.
“The lived experiences and perceptions of discrimination differ dramatically by sex among the nation’s youngest adults.”
More than half of Gen Z men (53%) also believe young men are struggling more than young women to find their place in society, at higher levels than Americans at large (42%). At the same time, Gen Z women are again 20 points less likely than men to agree that young men face more struggles than they do (32%), revealing the lived experiences and perceptions of discrimination differ dramatically by sex among the nation’s youngest adults.
Finally, it also is notable that Gen Z men are nearly twice as likely as Gen Z women (52% vs. 28%) to support policies that encourage more Americans to have children (although the results for Gen Z men must be viewed with some caution, as they are based on a sample size of 90). Such policies have enjoyed renewed attention within the Trump administration and fit into the larger MAGA worldview that promotes a patriarchal vision of America.
These findings mirror, in some ways, an earlier poll this fall that found Gen Z men were more likely than Gen Z women to say having children is important to their personal success later in life.
While many Gen Z men find traditionalist notions of masculinity appealing, this doesn’t equate to a conservative religious revival.
Stories about a supposed religious revival among Generation Z, particularly Gen Z men, abound, with the implicit assumption that Trump’s stronger performance with Gen Z male voters is a driving force for this newfound religiosity. Yet PRRI’s latest data fail to find any evidence of higher rates of Christian identification or church attendance among Gen Z men.
Analyzing trend data from the PRRI Census of American Religion, I found in 2013 that 35% of young men (ages 18 to 29) indicated they were religiously unaffiliated. Data from this year’s AVS show those numbers remain unchanged. While there is a slight increase in the percentage of young white men identifying as Christian from 27% to 29%, that change is not statistically significant.
Instead, we see young women have grown significantly more likely to identify as religiously unaffiliated during that same time period. In 2013, 29% of young women had no religious affiliation; by 2024, it was 40%.
There also is no evidence young men are increasing their rates of church attendance. In 2013, 16% of men ages 18 to 29 indicated they attended church weekly or more. While our 2025 AVS finds 19% of young men indicated they attended church weekly or more, that difference is not statistically significant. Weekly attendance rates for young women, on the other hand, declined from 29% in 2013, to 21% in 2025.
“There also is no evidence young men are increasing their rates of church attendance.”
What the growing gender divergence among Gen Z means for the future
This year’s American Values Survey reveals Gen Z men and women do differ in some important ways, particularly over concepts about masculinity. Notably, Gen Z men are far more likely than Gen Z women to believe young men face more struggles in society. This aligns with a growing, bipartisan consensus among some political leaders seeking policy solutions in response to data that show young men are falling behind their female counterparts with respect to educational achievement and other important measures.
Gen Z women, however, largely aren’t buying into the idea that the difficulties faced by young people today are disproportionately impacting young men. Many Gen Z women, who hold more feminist values than older women, would be quick to point out that women continue to earn less than men and participate less in the workforce.
More importantly, most members of Gen Z, regardless of gender, are frustrated with economic and political systems that are unresponsive to their needs. While Gen Z men are more likely to rate Trump’s job performance more positively and view the state of the country less negatively than Gen Z women, it’s not as though they are giving Trump glowing reviews; just one in three Gen Z men are happy with the direction of the country.
Gen Z men’s votes may be more up for grabs than many initially assumed after the results of last fall’s elections.
Melissa Deckman serves as CEO of Public Religion Research Institute and is author of The Politics of Gen Z.
This column originally appeared on her Substack and is republished here with permission. Subscribe to her original columns there as well.
Related articles:
Most Americans now see Trump as a dangerous dictator | Analysis by Robert P. Jones
Most Americans don’t share the MAGA vision | Analysis by Melissa Deckman
Women are the problem, Carlson and Fuentes declare | Analysis by Rick Pidcock