Death awareness and body–self dualism: A why and how of afterlife belief

Abstract

Belief in life after death offers potential comfort in the face of inevitable death. However, afterlife belief likely requires not only an awareness of death but also body–self dualism—the perception that the self (e.g., the mind) is distinct from the physical, undeniably mortal, body. In turn, we hypothesized that mortality salience (MS) should heighten afterlife belief only when dualism is facilitated. Study 1 found that MS increased belief for people high, relative to low, in trait mind–body dualism. In Study 2, MS only increased belief when people first wrote about their thoughts and personality, which a pilot study confirmed facilitated dualistic belief, relative to thinking about the physical self. Study 3 used the brain–computer interface technology to induce a dualistic experience: MS increased belief when participants accurately “typed” without the use of their external body (i.e., no hands). Together, these findings support the position that mortality awareness and body–self dualism constitute a “why” and “how” of afterlife belief. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A free will needs a free mind: Belief in substance dualism and reductive physicalism differentially predict belief in free will and determinism

“…Other empirical research found that dualist beliefs moderate the effect of mortality salience on afterlife beliefs (Heflick, Goldenberg, Hart, & Kamp, 2015), and positively predict teleological reasoning, belief in god, belief in the paranormal, as well as to selfreported purpose in life (Willard & Norenzayan, 2013). In other words, it seems as if peopleÕs metaphysical views can indeed have consequences for the development and maintenance of other, typically more tangible, belief systems, which may ultimately even affect their mental and physical well-being.…”

Mind-Body Dualism and Health Revisited

“…As the current findings suggest, people's belief in the self as a non-material substance whose present well-being is not contingent upon bodily states, might suffice to shape their health behavior--believing in the continuing existence of souls after death thus seems to be a rather extreme scenario that matters most in the context of entertaining one's mortality. Additionally, whereas previous research in this regard has established belief in dualism as a moderator of the effects of mortality salience on afterlife belief, under neutral baseline conditions (i.e., no existential threat), the relation between dualism and afterlife belief seems less straightforward, that is, either non-existent (Heflick et al, 2015, Studies 1-2) or even negative (Heflick et al, 2015, Study 3). In our studies, we thus focused on people's intuitions about the relation between minds and bodies and the physical foundation of mental well-being largely from a secular perspective, that is, carefully avoiding any reference to "souls," "afterlife," or any related religious or supernatural concept (see ESM 2, for the exact wordings of our measures and manipulations).…”

“…When addressing how belief in dualism shapes health outcomes, we focused on a secular conceptualization of health, that is, the degree to which lay people care about their physical and mental well-being while being alive. However, dualistic beliefs have also been linked to belief in an afterlife (Thalbourne, 1996; Heflick et al, 2015). Thus, it may be conceivable that strengthening belief in mind-body dualism attenuates health-sustaining behavior via an increase in afterlife belief – if the immaterial soul (i.e., the “self”) can survive death, the motivation to sustain the body as its material container might be reduced.…”

The Physicalist Worldview as Neurotic Ego-Defense Mechanism

“…In conclusion, the physicalist narrative may serve the egoic meaning needs of the intellectual elites who develop and promote it, but constitutes a significant threat to the sense of meaning of the average person on the streets. Perhaps for this reason, a large segment of society seeks meaning through alternative ontologies considered outdated and untenable by the intellectual elites, such as religious dualism (Heflick, Goldenberg, Hart, & Kamp, 2015). This creates a schism—with corresponding tensions—between different segments of society, which may help explain the contemporary conflict between neo-atheism and religious belief.…”