An initial investigation of the role of death concerns in evaluations of metaphoric language about God

Abstract

Past research suggests that death pushes some individuals to strongly promote religious worldviews. The current work explores the role of conceptual metaphor in this process. Past research shows that metaphors can provide meaning and certainty, suggesting that death may therefore cause people to be more attracted to epistemically beneficial metaphoric descriptions of God. In three studies, we test this possibility against competing alternatives suggesting that death concerns may cause more selective metaphor preferences. Using both correlational (Study 1 and pre-registered replication) and experimental (Study 2) methods, we find that death concern is generally associated with embracing metaphors about God.