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It’s the End of the World and I Feel Fine

2015; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 42; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/0146167215616800

1552-7433

Uri Lifshin, Jeff Greenberg, David Weise, Melissa Soenke,

Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health

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.