title: Religious involvement and death anxiety.
abstract: The purpose of this study is to test a conceptual model that aims to clarify the relationship between religious commitment and death anxiety. This model contains the following hypotheses: (1) people who affiliate with Conservative Protestant congregations will be more likely to attend worship services; (2) people who go to church more often will be more likely to feel they belong in their congregations; (3) those who feel they belong in their congregations will be more deeply committed to their faith; (4) individuals who are more deeply committed to their faith will be more likely to forgive others; (5) people who forgive others are more likely to feel they have been forgiven by God; and (6) individuals who feel they are forgiven by God will experience less death anxiety. Data from a nationwide survey of older Mexican Americans provides support for each hypothesis.
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan.
authors.forename: Neal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Krause
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan.
authors.forename: R David
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Hayward
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001293:Attitude to Death / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012933:Social Identification; D029181:Spirituality; D014481:United States