The Psychology of Death and Loss for Nonbelievers

Carnegie Mellon University

Friday, June 7, 2019
10:00am-10:30am

This presentation will examine research on how atheists and other nonbelievers experience death, grief, and, bereavement from a psychological perspective. While there is an abundance of research that explores how belief in God or gods may influence factors such as bereavement, coping with loss, and death anxiety, psychological research has typically omitted nonbeliever perspectives. Similarly, many assume nonbelievers are less able to adapt to loss without the belief in a higher power or assume there are no “atheists in foxholes.” This presentation summarizes research findings that dispel some of these myths and highlights future research directions in this area.