The Psychology of Death and Loss for Nonbelievers

This speaker participated in our 2019 Conference. Learn more about our 2023 conference speakers here.

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.

Jacob Sawyer

Dr. Jacob S. Sawyer is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Penn State Mont Alto. His primary line of research examines the experiences of individuals who do not believe in God or gods. This includes psychological implications of stereotypes and discrimination, benefits of engaging in nonbelief community groups, and reactions towards grief, loss, and bereavement in nonbelievers. He earned a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Columbia University, and previously worked as a staff psychologist in a university counseling center.

Email: jss708@psu.edu
Twitter: @jsspsych