The relationship between afterlife beliefs and mental wellbeing among Jordanian Muslim youth

Despite the centrality of beliefs in afterlife reward and punishment in the religious life of Muslims, few empirical studies have sought to understand how such beliefs affect the psychological state and social behavior of Muslims. Past related studies have concluded that these beliefs are unhealthy...

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Main Authors: Al-Issa, Riyad Salim, Krauss, Steven Eric, Roslan, Samsilah, Abdullah, Haslinda
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Michigan Publishing 2021
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/95577/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/95577/1/The%20relationship%20between%20afterlife%20beliefs%20and%20mental%20wellbeing%20among%20Jordanian%20Muslim%20youth.pdf
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author Al-Issa, Riyad Salim
Krauss, Steven Eric
Roslan, Samsilah
Abdullah, Haslinda
author_facet Al-Issa, Riyad Salim
Krauss, Steven Eric
Roslan, Samsilah
Abdullah, Haslinda
author_sort Al-Issa, Riyad Salim
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Despite the centrality of beliefs in afterlife reward and punishment in the religious life of Muslims, few empirical studies have sought to understand how such beliefs affect the psychological state and social behavior of Muslims. Past related studies have concluded that these beliefs are unhealthy because they are positively associated with general anxiety and death anxiety. This finding contradicts a central notion in Islamic theology, which states that avoiding afterlife punishment and obtaining afterlife reward is the primary motive for Muslim religiosity. The current study attempts to deepen our understanding of how Islamic afterlife reward and punishment beliefs affect the psychological state of Muslims. The study suggests that the influence of Islamic afterlife beliefs on wellbeing can be better understood from the perspective of meaning management theory as well as through the eudaimonistic tradition. This study has two goals: To develop the Islamic Afterlife Reward and Punishment Beliefs (IARPB) scale and to examine the relationship between IARPB and Muslim religiosity, death anxiety, death acceptance, and integrity. Data were collected from Jordanian university students (N = 605). Exploratory and confirmatory analyses support the construct validity of the IARPB Scale. IARPB positively predicted Muslim religiosity, death anxiety, death acceptance, and integrity. Results of ad hoc analysis indicated that IARPB suppresses death anxiety and amplifies death acceptance by increasing Muslim religiosity. In general, the results indicate a positive relationship between IARPB and the psychological state of Muslims. The limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed.
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spelling upm-955772022-08-22T01:59:23Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/95577/ The relationship between afterlife beliefs and mental wellbeing among Jordanian Muslim youth Al-Issa, Riyad Salim Krauss, Steven Eric Roslan, Samsilah Abdullah, Haslinda Despite the centrality of beliefs in afterlife reward and punishment in the religious life of Muslims, few empirical studies have sought to understand how such beliefs affect the psychological state and social behavior of Muslims. Past related studies have concluded that these beliefs are unhealthy because they are positively associated with general anxiety and death anxiety. This finding contradicts a central notion in Islamic theology, which states that avoiding afterlife punishment and obtaining afterlife reward is the primary motive for Muslim religiosity. The current study attempts to deepen our understanding of how Islamic afterlife reward and punishment beliefs affect the psychological state of Muslims. The study suggests that the influence of Islamic afterlife beliefs on wellbeing can be better understood from the perspective of meaning management theory as well as through the eudaimonistic tradition. This study has two goals: To develop the Islamic Afterlife Reward and Punishment Beliefs (IARPB) scale and to examine the relationship between IARPB and Muslim religiosity, death anxiety, death acceptance, and integrity. Data were collected from Jordanian university students (N = 605). Exploratory and confirmatory analyses support the construct validity of the IARPB Scale. IARPB positively predicted Muslim religiosity, death anxiety, death acceptance, and integrity. Results of ad hoc analysis indicated that IARPB suppresses death anxiety and amplifies death acceptance by increasing Muslim religiosity. In general, the results indicate a positive relationship between IARPB and the psychological state of Muslims. The limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed. Michigan Publishing 2021 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/95577/1/The%20relationship%20between%20afterlife%20beliefs%20and%20mental%20wellbeing%20among%20Jordanian%20Muslim%20youth.pdf Al-Issa, Riyad Salim and Krauss, Steven Eric and Roslan, Samsilah and Abdullah, Haslinda (2021) The relationship between afterlife beliefs and mental wellbeing among Jordanian Muslim youth. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 15 (1). pp. 1-18. ISSN 1556-4908; ESSN: 1556-5009 https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/jmmh/article/id/125/ 10.3998/jmmh.125
spellingShingle Al-Issa, Riyad Salim
Krauss, Steven Eric
Roslan, Samsilah
Abdullah, Haslinda
The relationship between afterlife beliefs and mental wellbeing among Jordanian Muslim youth
title The relationship between afterlife beliefs and mental wellbeing among Jordanian Muslim youth
title_full The relationship between afterlife beliefs and mental wellbeing among Jordanian Muslim youth
title_fullStr The relationship between afterlife beliefs and mental wellbeing among Jordanian Muslim youth
title_full_unstemmed The relationship between afterlife beliefs and mental wellbeing among Jordanian Muslim youth
title_short The relationship between afterlife beliefs and mental wellbeing among Jordanian Muslim youth
title_sort relationship between afterlife beliefs and mental wellbeing among jordanian muslim youth
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/95577/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/95577/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/95577/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/95577/1/The%20relationship%20between%20afterlife%20beliefs%20and%20mental%20wellbeing%20among%20Jordanian%20Muslim%20youth.pdf