title: It's the End of the World and I Feel Fine: Soul Belief and Perceptions of End-of-the-World Scenarios.
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.
authors.affiliation: University of Arizona, Tucson, USA Lifshin@email.arizona.edu.
authors.forename: Uri
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lifshin
authors.affiliation: University of Arizona, Tucson, USA.
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Greenberg
authors.affiliation: Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weise
authors.affiliation: California State University, Channel Islands, USA.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soenke
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001293:Attitude to Death; D005260:Female; D057232:Global Warming; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019222:Mind-Body Relations, Metaphysical; D012067:Religion; D029181:Spirituality; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: end of the world; global warming; immortality; religion; soul