Ready to Meet God? Faithfulness and the Death of a Loved One

Abstract

Religiosity often predicts better adjustment after the death of a loved one, but findings vary. One source of variability could be the perceived faithfulness of the deceased. In study 1, more religious college students found the death of a hypothetical faithful person to be less sad than the death of a hypothetical unfaithful person, whereas less religious college students did not. In study 2, MTurk participants and highly religious Christians reported that the death of a faithful loved one was less difficult than the death of an unfaithful loved one, but the difference was greater for the highly religious Christians.