Attitudes toward Life and Death, Religiosity, and Gender in Israeli Children

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Abstract
This study focused on the impact of religion and gender on young children's attitudes toward life and death. One hundred and forty-two boys and girls responded to a semi-projective test involving fairy tales in order to assess attraction and repulsion toward life and death. All the children displayed a pattern of high attraction to life, low attraction to death, low repulsion by life, and high repulsion by death. The religious children in contrast to the nonreligious children displayed a higher attraction to death. There were also differences in the types of rationales provided by the children for their attitudes. Four types of rationales emerged: interpersonal relationships, mental pain and enjoyment, physical pain and enjoyment, and self-actualization. Religious and nonreligious boys and girls differed with regard to the order of the rationales. There was also a main effect of gender and a gender x religiosity interaction. These results are discussed with respect to the religious and cultural impact on the formation of attitudes towards life and death.
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