Belief in life after death: psychological origins and influences

Belief in some form of life after death is widespread, and the question is raised what psychological processes give rise to it. The sample in the present study consisted of 85 first-year undergraduate psychology students at the University of Adelaide. General belief in life after death was found to be high, and was related to a desire for there to be an afterlife, to adherence to a dualistic philosophy, and to low death anxiety. Subdivision of subjects into the different forms of afterlife believed in showed that reincarnationists exhibited the strongest adherence to a dualistic philosophy and the highest level of belief in, and alleged experience of, ESP and psychokinesis.