On faith and the fear of fatality : a review of recent research on deities and death
Although speculations about the role of fear—and fear of death in particular—in the evolutionary and psychological origins of religion have been around for millennia, it is only in the last decade or so that systematic empirical investigations on the matter have been undertaken. In this paper, we re...
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Equinox Publishing
2013
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| _version_ | 1797058365983031296 |
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| author | Jong, J |
| author_facet | Jong, J |
| author_sort | Jong, J |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Although speculations about the role of fear—and fear of death in particular—in the evolutionary and psychological origins of religion have been around for millennia, it is only in the last decade or so that systematic empirical investigations on the matter have been undertaken. In this paper, we review this recent body of correlational and experimental research to assess theoretical developments in the evolutionary and cognitive psychology of religion, and in Terror Management Theory. While these existing theories about the anxiety ameliorating functions of religious belief are still significantly under-determined by data, the systematic and scientific study of religion has benefited greatly from insights about the multidimensionality of religiosity, the importance of implicit levels of cognition and affect, and the dangers of biased sampling. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:49:29Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:2379b57a-2bfb-4563-83ae-f800d7bd89c2 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:49:29Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Equinox Publishing |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:2379b57a-2bfb-4563-83ae-f800d7bd89c22022-03-26T11:44:33ZOn faith and the fear of fatality : a review of recent research on deities and deathJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:2379b57a-2bfb-4563-83ae-f800d7bd89c2EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordEquinox Publishing2013Jong, JAlthough speculations about the role of fear—and fear of death in particular—in the evolutionary and psychological origins of religion have been around for millennia, it is only in the last decade or so that systematic empirical investigations on the matter have been undertaken. In this paper, we review this recent body of correlational and experimental research to assess theoretical developments in the evolutionary and cognitive psychology of religion, and in Terror Management Theory. While these existing theories about the anxiety ameliorating functions of religious belief are still significantly under-determined by data, the systematic and scientific study of religion has benefited greatly from insights about the multidimensionality of religiosity, the importance of implicit levels of cognition and affect, and the dangers of biased sampling. |
| spellingShingle | Jong, J On faith and the fear of fatality : a review of recent research on deities and death |
| title | On faith and the fear of fatality : a review of recent research on deities and death |
| title_full | On faith and the fear of fatality : a review of recent research on deities and death |
| title_fullStr | On faith and the fear of fatality : a review of recent research on deities and death |
| title_full_unstemmed | On faith and the fear of fatality : a review of recent research on deities and death |
| title_short | On faith and the fear of fatality : a review of recent research on deities and death |
| title_sort | on faith and the fear of fatality a review of recent research on deities and death |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jongj onfaithandthefearoffatalityareviewofrecentresearchondeitiesanddeath |