Afterlife Beliefs and Ego Integrity as Two Mediators of the Relationship Between Intrinsic Religiosity and Personal Death Anxiety Among Older Adult British Christians

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of afterlife beliefs and ego integrity as two mediators of the negative relationship between intrinsic religiosity and personal death anxiety in later life. One hundred forty-three older adult British Christians responded to both initial and follow-up postal surveys containing questions on their religious and death attitudes. Structural equation modeling analysis showed that intrinsic religiosity predicted lower personal death anxiety via fostering more benign afterlife beliefs and ego integrity. This study demonstrated that intrinsic religiosity had a negative indirect effect on personal death anxiety through the joint agency of more benign afterlife beliefs and greater ego integrity. It also provided empirical evidence in support of the role of intrinsic religiosity in promoting psychosocial well-being in later life.