| Title |
The Emotional Toll of Hell: Cross-National and Experimental Evidence for the Negative Well-Being Effects of Hell Beliefs
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
PLOS ONE, January 2014
|
| DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0085251 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Azim F. Shariff, Lara B. Aknin |
| Abstract |
Though beliefs in Heaven and Hell are related, they are associated with different personality characteristics and social phenomena. Here we present three studies measuring Heaven and Hell beliefs' associations with and impact on subjective well-being. We find that a belief in Heaven is consistently associated with greater happiness and life satisfaction while a belief in Hell is associated with lower happiness and life satisfaction at the national (Study 1) and individual (Study 2) level. An experimental priming study (Study 3) suggests that these differences are mainly driven by the negative emotional impact of Hell beliefs. Possible cultural evolutionary explanations for the persistence of such a distressing religious concept are discussed. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 85 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 17 | 20% |
| United Kingdom | 14 | 16% |
| Canada | 2 | 2% |
| Italy | 2 | 2% |
| Australia | 2 | 2% |
| Belgium | 2 | 2% |
| Spain | 2 | 2% |
| Germany | 1 | 1% |
| Turkey | 1 | 1% |
| Other | 5 | 6% |
| Unknown | 37 | 44% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 65 | 76% |
| Scientists | 13 | 15% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 5 | 6% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 2 | 2% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 62 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 1 | 2% |
| Canada | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 60 | 97% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 11 | 18% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 8 | 13% |
| Student > Bachelor | 7 | 11% |
| Researcher | 6 | 10% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 5 | 8% |
| Other | 15 | 24% |
| Unknown | 10 | 16% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 23 | 37% |
| Social Sciences | 12 | 19% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 4 | 6% |
| Neuroscience | 3 | 5% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 2 | 3% |
| Other | 5 | 8% |
| Unknown | 13 | 21% |