The Relationship Between Afterlife Beliefs and Mental Wellbeing Among Jordanian Muslim Youth

Despite the centrality of afterlife reward and punishment beliefs in the religious life of Muslims, few empirical studies have sought to understand how such beliefs affect the psychological state and social behavior of Muslims. Past scant related studies have concluded that these beliefs are unhealthy, because they are positively associated with anxiety and death anxiety. This finding contradicts a central notion in Islamic theology, which states that avoiding afterlife punishment and obtaining afterlife reward is the primary motive for Muslim religiosity. The current study attempts to deepen our understanding of how Islamic afterlife reward and punishment beliefs affect the psychological state of Muslims. The study suggests that the influence of Islamic afterlife beliefs on well-being can be better understood from the perspective of meaning management theory as well as through the eudaimonistic tradition of well-being. This study has two goals: To develop the Islamic Afterlife Reward and Punishment Beliefs (IARPB) scale, and to examine the relationship between IARPB and Muslim religiosity, death anxiety, death acceptance and integrity. Data were collected from Jordanian university students (N = 605). Exploratory and confirmatory analyses support the construct validity of the IARPB Scale. IARPB positively predicted Muslim religiosity, death anxiety, death acceptance, and integrity. Results of ad hoc analysis indicated that IARPB suppresses death anxiety and amplifies death acceptance by increasing Muslim religiosity. In general, the results indicate a positive relationship between IARPB and the psychological state of Muslims. The limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed.

How Non-Being Haunts Being: On Possibilities, Morality and Death Acceptance, Corey Anton (2020)

Review of: How Non-Being Haunts Being: On Possibilities, Morality and Death Acceptance, Corey Anton (2020) Vancouver, BC: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 220 pp., ISBN-13: 978-1-68393-284-0, h/bk, $65.00, Kindle, $45.00

Reclaiming Death Acceptance in the Twenty-First Century

In a modern twenty-first-century Western society that extracts its values from youth culture and the fear of aging, death phobia becomes a real issue that needs to be addressed. This study aims to present some of the reasons why death became a taboo subject, why modern man fears death, and how cultural sensitivity can lead to a state of death acceptance, all while the death positivity movement is gaining traction. Keeping in mind that the complex paradox of today is fear of inevitability, let us try and name some of the roots of this problem and what we can do to ease the interaction with death.

Attitudes toward death and death acceptance among hemato-oncologists: An Israeli sample

Objective Hemato-oncologists are highly exposed to patients’ death and suffering during their daily work. The current exploratory and cross-sectional study examined death acceptance attitudes, in order to explore whether death acceptance attitudes are associated with fear of death. Method A convenience sample of 50 Israeli hemato-oncologists currently working in a clinical setting participated in the study. They completed the Death Attitudes Profile revised questionnaire (DAP-R), which examines levels of fear of death, death avoidance, approach acceptance, neutral acceptance, and escape acceptance. In addition, the hemato-oncologists reported on levels of exposure to patients’ death and suffering. Results A repeated measures MANOVA revealed significantly lower levels of neutral acceptance, compared with approach and escape acceptance. Path analysis for predicting fear of death by the other study variables revealed that death avoidance fully mediated the relationship between approach acceptance and fear of death as well as revealing a negative correlation between neutral acceptance and fear of death (higher neutral acceptance was related to lower fear of death). No associations were found between exposure to death and suffering and attitudes toward death. Significance of results In contrast to previous conceptualizations, the ability to adaptively cope with fear of death differed in accordance with death acceptance attitudes. Whereas neutral acceptance adaptively defended from fear of death, approach acceptance was associated with increased fear of death through death avoidance. As hemato-oncologists are highly exposed to patients’ death and suffering, and are required to make critical medical decisions on daily basis, these findings may have substantial implications for end-of-life care and the process of medical decision-making regarding the choice of treatment goals: cure, quality of life, and life prolongment. Further research is needed to investigate the role of death acceptance attitudes among hemato-oncologists.

Matters of Life and Death: An Experimental Study Investigating Psychological Interventions to Encourage the Readiness for End-of-Life Conversations

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Talking about death and dying is evoking discomfort in many persons, resulting in avoidance of this topic. However, end-of-life discussions can alleviate distress and uncertainties in both old and young adults, but only a minority uses this option in palliative care. Even in healthy populations, talking about death is often seen as alleviative and worthwhile, but rarely initiated. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> To investigate different psychological interventions (a) encouraging the readiness for end-of-life discussions and (b) changing death attitudes in healthy adults of different ages. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> 168 participants were randomized to four different interventions (IG1: value-based intervention with end-of-life perspective, IG2: motivation-based intervention with end-of-life perspective, IG3: combination of IG1 and IG2, CG: control group). Primary outcome was the readiness to engage in end-of-life topics. Secondary outcomes were fear of death, fear of dying and death acceptance. Assessments took place before, directly after the intervention and at 2 weeks of follow up. <b><i>Results:</i></b> IG2 and IG3 reported significantly more changes in the readiness to engage in end-of-life discussions than the CG (<i>F</i>[5.61, 307] = 4.83, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001, η<i>p</i>² = 0.081) directly after the intervention. The effect of IG3 remained stable at the follow-up. There were no significant effects of the interventions on end-of-life fears or death acceptance. Acceptability of the interventions was very high. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Short interventions can be useful to encourage end-of-life discussions and could be integrated in health care programs. The efficacy and effectiveness of these short interventions in palliative patients are currently examined.

Fear of Death and Death Acceptance Among Bereaved Adults: Associations With Prolonged Grief

This study aimed to analyze fear of death and neutral acceptance of death after a significant loss and their associations with prolonged grief. The sample of the study included 239 bereaved participants. Time since the loss ranged from 6 to 72 months. We found that neutral acceptance of death was associated with older age, a natural cause of death, and the ability to find meaning in the death of a close one. Fear of death was negatively associated with the frequency of practicing religion. We found that fear of death but not neutral acceptance was significantly associated with prolonged grief symptoms.

AN ELDERLY’S PERSPECTIVE ON THE IMPACT OF SPIRITUALITY TOWARDS DEATH ACCEPTANCE

Objective: This study explored the religious or spiritual beliefs and behaviors of the elderly that could somehow translate to their level of death acceptance or lack thereof.Methods: A total of four (4) elderly participants, ages 60 and above whom meet the criteria set for this study was interviewed to assess their spiritual upbringing and experiences that resulted to their death acceptance. The study involves qualitative approach using thematic analysis. The narrative testimony of the old adult participants in this study which includes cases of older adult that believes in God, older adult having shifted from one religious organization to another, and older adults’ instilled spirituality comes from religious imprint from family members during childhood describes the three important patterns in the religious or spiritual standing of the participants.Results: The themes signified that (1) older adults are inherently religious and this nature is a subsequent factor in (2) their faith in God basing on their life experiences and life’s meaning. Furthermore, this (3) belief or faith in God offers them a sense of security and hope in the afterlife.Conclusion: These themes explain the pattern in the creation of a religious/ spiritual standing that leads to death acceptance among participants as evident in their interview results.

BE GENERATIVE TO ACCEPT DEATH: ROLE OF MEANING IN LIFE MODERATED BY AGE AND PERCEIVED IMPACT

Meaning-management theory (MMT) suggests living a meaningful life leads to higher death acceptance. This paper investigates how generativity, i.e. the intention to bring benefits to the next generation, can affect death acceptance through achieving meaning in life (MIL). 343 participants in Hong Kong (aged 18-90) filled in a questionnaire as part of “Age(ing) as Future” project. Generativity positively correlates with death acceptance. MIL fully mediates the effect of generativity on death acceptance (r(343)=.132, p=.014). The effect of generativity on MIL might differ by age and perceived influences of generative acts. As speculated, the mediation is moderated by Age and Transformational Future Time Perspective (TFTP; generative impact that expands future time perspective). In older adults with lower TFTP, generativity no longer predicts MIL and the mediation was nonsignificant. The results provide empirical support to MMT and emphasise the importance of perceived impact and the needs in different developmental stage.