PsyPost
No Result
View All Result
PsyPost
No Result
View All Result
Home Exclusive Psychology of Religion

Being reminded of one’s own death increases spatial-religious associations

by Patricia Y. Sanchez
June 13, 2022
in Psychology of Religion
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

In general, most Western Christians and non-believers alike tend to associate God with “upper space” (i.e., heaven, higher power) and the devil with “lower space” (i.e., depths of hell, underground). New research published in Religion, Brain, & Behavior provides more support for these associations by demonstrating that these associations do exist and become stronger when people are reminded of their own death.

“The systematic use of vertical space when expressing religious contents is not merely an artistic feature but rather reflects a strategy of knowledge representation. According to the conceptual metaphor theory, verticality is a basic aspect of human life, and is therefore co-opted for various metaphorical associations such as valence, power, numerosity, or religious values,” wrote study author Michael Rihs and colleagues.

One’s religious beliefs extend beyond the belief in God. For example, religiosity can influence beliefs about death, the afterlife, and general existence. Terror management theory suggests that being aware of or reminded of one’s own death (i.e., mortality salience) can result in inner fear, which can then lead people to cling more strongly to their personal and cultural worldviews as a defense mechanism.

Research recruited 150 undergraduates to participate in this study for course credit. All participants took an implicit association test (IAT), which measures automatic associations between two concepts by having participants categorize words into appropriate categories. In this case, participants categorized words like “Lord” and “Satan” to the categories of “God” or “Devil.”

They then tested associations between words like “Top” and “Bottom” with categories of “Up” and “Down.” Lastly, they combined these tests and had participants associate words like “Almighty” and “Lucifer” with the categories described in the previous tests. The target-concept association was also reversed, and participants did the trials again, but associating words in the opposite categories. Half of the participants did the reversed tests first.

After the first IAT session, participants were randomly assigned to either the mortality salience or control condition. Mortality salience was introduced by having participants describe the emotions they felt when they think about their own death. The control group wrote about the emotions they feel when they think of a tooth root treatment. After this and two distractor tasks, participants completed the second IAT session. All participants also filled out measures of self-esteem at the beginning of the experiment and measures of general positive or negative mood in between the IAT sessions as a distractor task.

Results show that implicit associations of “God” with “Up” and “Devil” with “Down” did not differ between the groups on the first IAT session. However, these associations were stronger for the second IAT session for those in the mortality salience group compared to the control group. Interestingly, the control group showed a reduction in these associations at the second session.

Researchers recruited a smaller sample of 16 people to do the same procedure but instead of writing about a tooth treatment they copied a neutral text. Results show this group to have similar results to the original control group: a reduction in the expected implicit associations. Further analysis on effects of self-esteem showed that mortality salience did affect IAT scores in those with low and medium self-esteem scores, but not those with high self-esteem scores.

“The results are in line with earlier evidence that [mortality salience] automatically increases religious belief on an implicit level. In addition to this, the results provide insights into the cascade of cognitive processes triggered by [mortality salience]. Specifically, the results show that the activation of the target-concepts (God and devil) by [mortality salience] automatically activates the spatial association of these concepts (i.e., the source-concept).”

The researchers cite some limitations of their work and recommendations for future research such as the inclusion of a measurement of belief in God as changes to these implicit associations may vary depending on a person’s level of belief.

The study, “God is up and devil is down: mortality salience increases implicit spatial-religious associations“, was authored by

ShareTweetSendScanShareSharePin1Send

Get all the latest updates on new psychology research with the free PsyPost app.
 


NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP

STAY CONNECTED

TRENDING

Body dysmorphic disorder linked to deficits in cognitive flexibility and visuospatial skills

Tattoos and piercings are more common among those who experienced childhood abuse and neglect

Scientists discover an illusion that is strong enough to trick our reflexes

Shyness linked to reduced behavioral mimicry during conversation via heightened self-focused attention

The balance of power among couples appears to influence female sexual desire via relationship satisfaction

Gender-neutral text perceived as less comprehensible than gendered text in Polish, study finds

RECENT

New psychology research indicates that partisan biases can promote false memories

Gender-neutral text perceived as less comprehensible than gendered text in Polish, study finds

Exercise enhances our enjoyment of music, possibly through increased arousal

Study indicates that thin influencers do not motivate healthy food choices among tweens

The balance of power among couples appears to influence female sexual desire via relationship satisfaction

  • Cognitive Science
  • COVID-19
  • Mental Health
  • Social Psychology
  • Drug Research
  • Conspiracy Theories
  • Meditation
  • Psychology of Religion
  • Aviation Psychology and Human Factors
  • Relationships and Sexual Health
Powered by

About

PsyPost is a psychology and neuroscience news website dedicated to reporting the latest research on human behavior, cognition, and society. (READ MORE...)

  • Contact us
  • Privacy policy

No Result
View All Result
  • About
    • Newsletter signup form
  • Cart
  • Checkout
  • Contact
  • Contact us
  • My account
  • Privacy policy
  • Psychology news
  • PsyPost app privacy policy
  • Shop
  • SmartMag Home

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used.