Examining If Religion Influences Death Attitudes: Mental Health Perspective

Abstract

Dying is inevitable; however, people respond to the concept of death differently. One’s response varies on his/her attitude towards religion and non-believers. There are five different death attitudes: (a) neutral acceptance which suggest that death is a part of life; (b) approach acceptance which holds a positive attitude towards death because one will have a happy afterlife; (c) escape acceptance wherein death is welcomed and seen as a way out for a life filled with pain, misery, and suffering; (d) fear of death is when a sense of fear is evoked by confrontations with death; (e) and death avoidance is when an individual avoids the topic of death in order to reduce death anxiety (Harding, Flannelly, Weaver, & Costa, 2005; Wong, 2008). While religious believers were able to forgive and found overall improved health; religion increased death anxiety as compared to non-believers. However, religion further helped with coping with the inevitable, death. Many studies found that there is a negative correlation between death anxiety and death acceptance. Despite religion helping one cope, it is also a source of stress for an individual facing death due to questioning their life choices and good deeds. This paper employs meta-analysis of seminal knowledge and statistical analysis to examine if religion influences death attitudes from mental health perspective. Keywords: Religion, Death Attitude, Death Anxiety, Death Fear, Mental Health Perspective