Belief in Life After Death and Attitudes Toward Voluntary Euthanasia.
Research has documented associations among religious affiliation, religious practice, and attitudes toward voluntary euthanasia, yet very few studies have investigated how particular religious beliefs influence these attitudes. I use data from the General Social Survey (GSS; N = 19,967) to evaluate the association between the belief in life after death and attitudes toward voluntary euthanasia. I find that those who believe in life after death are significantly less likely than those who do not believe in life after death or those who doubt the existence of life after death to have positive attitudes toward voluntary euthanasia. These associations hold even after controlling for religious affiliation, religious attendance, views of the Bible, and sociodemographic factors. The findings indicate that to understand individuals' views about voluntary euthanasia, one must pay attention to individuals' particular religious beliefs.
['Sharp|Shane|S|']
D000328:Adult D001293:Attitude to Death D033101:Euthanasia, Active, Voluntary D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D012067:Religion
life after death euthanasia religious belief