An investigation into the relationships between ways of being religious and a multidimensional fear of death scale

The relationship between ways of being religious and fear of death was investigated using the three-dimensional model of religious belief proposed by Batson and Ventis (1982) and the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale (Hoelter, 1979). The present investigator added an additional fear of death subscale named "Fear of Punishment After Death" for exploratory purposes. The sample was comprised of 71 females and 47 males with a mean age of 46 years who described their religious belief systems as following within the Christian tradition. Subjects were administered a demographic questionnaire, the Religious Orientation Assessment Battery (Batson & Ventis, 1982) and the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale (Hoelter, 1979). A Pearson correlation procedure was run for each of the three religious variables (Means, End, Quest) with the nine fear of death variables. The results found the Means orientation to be positively correlated with all of the fear of death variables with the exception of Fear of Being Destroyed and Fear for Significant Others, for which the correlations were not significant. The End orientation was positively correlated with Fear of Being Destroyed and negatively correlated with Fear of the Unknown. The Quest orientation was positively correlated with Fear of the Unknown and Fear of Premature Death. A principle components factor analysis, stepwise discriminant analyses for male vs. female and expressed levels of interest in religious/spiritual issues, t-tests of religious/fear of death variable means for males vs. females and high vs. moderate levels of interest, and Pearson correlation procedures for the religious/fear of death variables vs. age and education were also employed. The results were interpreted as providing support for the Batson-Ventis model of religious belief, as well as the importance of multidimensional assessment of religious belief and fear of death. Implications for theory, treatment and recommendations for future research were discussed.