Mortality reminders strengthen religious belief even in atheists

Evidence

Religious faith does indeed serve to assuage concerns about death. Strong faith in God is associated with emotional well-being and low death anxiety. Additionally, after a reminder of their mortality, people report being more religious and having a stronger belief in God. Death reminders make people more confident that God exists, and that God answers prayers; they also make people more interested in, and accepting of, supernatural phenomena in general. — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 351

Categorization

• QUESTION: The implicit-religiosity finding for atheists after death reminders is striking — worth chasing the original Terror Management studies for method and effect sizes.

Related

• Death reminders boost faith in agnostics but not atheists (similarity 0.84)
• Death awareness temporarily increases belief in even alien gods (similarity 0.81)
• Reminders of death temporarily spike belief in any available gods (similarity 0.81)
• Subtle death reminders drive worldview defense, self-esteem striving, and unhealthy behavior. (similarity 0.80)
• Threatening cherished beliefs brings thoughts of death closer to awareness (similarity 0.80)
• Death rituals dampen one’s own mortality dread enough to sustain daily routines (similarity 0.80)
• Supernatural belief reduces death anxiety more powerfully than any secular identity. (similarity 0.79)
• Religious conviction spikes during bereavement and reduces later grief (similarity 0.78)
• Mortality reminders uniquely trigger worldview defense unlike other threats (similarity 0.78)