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Cited by 13Death Anxiety and Social ExclusionParanormal Experiences and BeliefsReligion, Spirituality, and Psychology

It’s the End of the World and I Feel Fine: Soul Belief and Perceptions of End-of-the-World Scenarios

Lifshin, Uri, Greenberg, Jeff, Weise, David, Soenke, Melissa·2016·Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
DOI 10.1177/0146167215616800
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Abstract

Five studies tested the effects that soul beliefs have on reactions to end-of-the-world scenarios. In Studies 1 and 2, participants who firmly believe in an immortal soul showed less resistance to an article predicting the end of humanity than those without such belief. However, in Studies 3 to 5, thoughts of symbolic immortality made soul believers more resistant to scientific evidence predicting the end of humanity. These results suggest that belief in an immortal soul provides psychological protection against the threat of humanity's demise that does not hold for symbolic immortality beliefs.

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Crossref · 10.1177/0146167215616800

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35 of 35 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Based on random assignment, participants in Study 1 wrote about the end of the world (n = 47), losing all social bonds (n = 60), a classic MS prime (n = 55), or dental pain (n = 41).

    “Based on random assignment, participants wrote about the end of the world and all human life (“all human life suddenly comes to an end;” n = 47), based on previous work [60], about losing all social bonds (“losing all of your friends and family;” n = 60), which was novel to this study to address the main hypotheses, a classic MS prime (n = 55), or about dental pain (n = 41).”

    From Not so terrifying after all? A set of failed replications of the mortality salience effects of Terror Management Theory (2023) · cites this paper as [60]

  • Other reviewed studies referred to climate change threats in near vs. future scenarios (e.g., 50 vs. 200 years from now).

    “Some studies had participants envision climate change threat, at times with detailed prompts - rising sea levels from melting ice caps, food scarcity, droughts, floods (Uhl et al., 2018) - while others referred to climate change threats in near vs. future scenarios (e.g., 50 vs. 200 years from now; Lifshin et al., 2016).”

    From Mortality management and climate action: A review and reference for using Terror Management Theory methods in interdisciplinary environmental research (2022) · cites this paper as Lifshin et al., 2016

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Authors
Lifshin, U., Greenberg, J., Weise, D., & Soenke, M.
Affiliations
  • University of Arizona (US)
  • Texas Christian University (US)
  • California State University, Channel Islands (US)
Corresponding author
Lifshin, Uri
ORCID
Venue
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2015-11-27
Volume
42
Issue
1
Pages
104-117
ISSN
  • 0146-1672 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-7433
DOI
10.1177/0146167215616800
OpenAlex
W2306083289
Cited by
13
References
37
Citations by year
2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1
FWCI
1.64
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
  • Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
Keywords
soul beliefs, immortality of the soul, symbolic immortality, end-of-the-world scenarios, psychological protection, belief in immortality, existential risk
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Attitude to Death, Female, Humans, Male, Religion, Mind-Body Relations, Metaphysical, Spirituality, Young Adult, Global Warming

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