Dimensions of Religiosity and Attitudes Toward Death: Determinants of the Meaning in Life Among Adolescents

The aim of this transversal study was to determine the function of the dimensions of religiosity (religious beliefs, ritual religion, and the consequences of religiosity on social behavior) and attitudes toward death (fear of death, avoidance of death, acceptance of death, and acceptance of death as escape) in predicting the variance of the perception of meaning in life among adolescents. The research included the pertinent sample (N = 218) of high school students from Valjevo. The average age of participants was (Mage = 16.53 years [SD = .38] years). Three measuring instruments were used: the Meaning in Life Scale (Vulić-Prtorić & Bubalo, 2006), the Religiosity Questionnaire (Ljubotina, 2004), The Attitudes toward Death and Dying Questionnaire (Štambuk, 2004). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to test the internal consistency of the scale and questionnaires. The initial degree of statistical significance was p ≤ .05. Correlational analysis indicates that, in adolescents, there is a statistically significant linear connection between the dimensions of religiosity and attitudes toward death. The results of the hierarchical regression analysis suggest that the dimensions of participants’ fear of death (β = .28) and acceptance of death as escape (β = .33), with 25% of the total variance, are significant partial positive predictors of the criterion meaning in life. That indicates that if participants are less afraid of death and view death as the extension of life, they will have a greater meaning in life. On the other hand, the regression model showed that the independent variables of religiosity did not stochastically independently influence the interpretation of the variability of the perception of the meaning in life among high school seniors. This study offers detailed interpretations of the findings and implications for further research.

Keywords: Adolescence, religious beliefs, ritual religion, fear of death, meaning in life.