THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AFTERLIFE BELIEFS AND DEATH ANXIETY AMONG EDUCATED (UNIVERSITY GOING) YOUNG ADULTS IN PAKISTAN, PUNJAB

Abstract

The present study examined how afterlife beliefs relate to death anxiety among educated young adults in Pakistan, where ideas about divine reward and punishment are an important part of religious and cultural life. Previous findings on this relationship have been mixed, with some studies showing that these beliefs reduce fear of death, while others report weak or inconsistent trends (Pandya & Kathuria, 2021). Very little research, however, has explored this topic through culturally specific measures in Muslim-majority contexts (Al-Issa et al., 2021). To address this gap, the current study investigated whether stronger afterlife beliefs are associated with lower levels of death anxiety among university students. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was used, and data were collected from 200 educated or university going young adults aged 18–25 years through convenient sampling. Two validated instruments were administered: the Islamic Afterlife Reward and Punishment Belief Scale (IARPB) (Al-Issa et al., 2021) and the Revised Death Anxiety Scale (RDAS) (Thorson & Powell,2015). Correlational analysis showed a significant negative association between afterlife beliefs and death anxiety, indicating that stronger belief in divine consequences corresponds with reduced death-related anxiety. Regression results further confirmed that afterlife beliefs significantly predicted death anxiety and accounted for 11% of its variance. Gender differences were also observed, with females reporting higher death anxiety than males, although both groups showed similar levels of afterlife beliefs (Dadfar & Lester, 2017). MANOVA results demonstrated that prayer frequency influenced afterlife beliefs, but death anxiety did not differ meaningfully across prayer, age, or private religious practice groups. Overall, the findings suggest that afterlife beliefs in reward and punishment may help lessen death anxiety in educated young adults by offering a sense of meaning and psychological reassurance in the face of mortality (Vail et al., 2019). These results highlight the value of culturally grounded religious beliefs for understanding how young adults interpret and cope with existential concerns and offer implications for future research, counselling, and spiritual support for young adults in religious societies