Does Religious Belief Matter for Grief and Death Anxiety? Experimental Philosophy Meets Psychology of Religion
It is commonly reasoned that religious belief moderates death anxiety and aids in coping with loss. However, a philosophical perspective known as meta-atheism includes the claim that avowed religious believers grieve deaths and experience death anxiety as intensely as avowed atheists. Thus, we repor...
| Autres titres: | Forum on Religion and Health |
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| Auteur principal: | |
| Collaborateurs: | ; |
| Type de support: | Électronique Article |
| Langue: | Anglais |
| Vérifier la disponibilité: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | En cours de chargement...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Publié: |
Wiley-Blackwell
[2016]
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| Dans: |
Journal for the scientific study of religion
Année: 2016, Volume: 55, Numéro: 3, Pages: 531-539 |
| Sujets non-standardisés: | B
Spirituality
B Bereavement B Grief B Loss B Religious Belief B Death Anxiety B Religiosity |
| Accès en ligne: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Résumé: | It is commonly reasoned that religious belief moderates death anxiety and aids in coping with loss. However, a philosophical perspective known as meta-atheism includes the claim that avowed religious believers grieve deaths and experience death anxiety as intensely as avowed atheists. Thus, we report a study comparing religious believers and nonbelievers on measures of death anxiety and grief. We further investigated the relationships between certain religious beliefs (views of God, afterlife belief, religious orientation) and death anxiety, as well as both painful grief reactions and grief-related growth. We surveyed 101 participants across the United States, ranging in age (19 to 57), education, and ethnicity. Participants avowing some form of religious belief, in comparison to those not, did not demonstrate lower levels of death anxiety. They did, however, display higher levels of a certain type of death acceptance. Additionally, those professing belief reported less grief and greater growth in response to loss. Greater afterlife belief was not associated with less grief; however, it was associated with both greater grief-related growth and lower death anxiety. |
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| ISSN: | 1468-5906 |
| Contient: | Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12288 |