1. Developing Concepts of the Mind, Body, and Afterlife: Exploring the Roles of Narrative Context and Culture.
- Author
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Lane, Jonathan D., Liqi Zhu, Evans, E. Margaret, and Wellman, Henry M.
- Subjects
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AFTERLIFE , *PSYCHOLOGY , *AESTHETIC judgment , *RELIGION , *INTERMENT - Abstract
Children and adults from the us (Study 1) and China (Study 2) heard about people who died in two types of narrative contexts - medical and religious - and judged whether their psychological and biological capacities cease or persist after death. Most 5- to 6-year-olds reported that all capacities would cease. In the us, but not China, there was an increase in persistence judgments at 7-8 years, which decreased thereafter, us children's persistence judgments were influenced by narrative context - occurring more often for religious narratives - and such judgments were made especially for psychological capacities. When participants were simply asked what happens to people following death, in both countries there were age-graded increases in references to burial, religious ritual, and the supernatural. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
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