Afterlife Beliefs and Death Anxiety: An Exploration of the Relationship between Afterlife Expectations and Fear of Death in an Undergraduate Population

Abstract

Psychologists and theologians have proposed that belief in afterlife (BA) buffers death anxiety (DA) by providing hope. This view is limited because it assumes the expected afterlife is rewarding. This study examines the relationship between different types of afterlife expectations and DA. Undergraduates ( N=111) completed the Templer Death Anxiety Scale (1970), the Osarchuk and Tatz Belief in Afterlife Scale (1973), and an Afterlife Expectation Scale. Five expectation categories were extracted through factor analysis: a reward-based afterlife, a judgment/punishment-based afterlife, an afterlife of continued existence on earth, a surreal afterlife, and extinction. No relationships were found between DA and either strength of BA or type of expectation. However, BA was related to reward expectation ( r=.72, p < .01), and judgment/punishment expectation ( r=.28, p < .01), contradicting the assumption that BA is always comforting.