Awareness of mortality is a fundamental aspect of human functioning, shaping
psychological well-being and meaning-making processes. This study examined the
relationships between religious support and attitudes toward death, as well as the
mediating roles of loneliness and fear of the future. A total of 230 adults (197 women,
33 men) aged 40–87 years (M = 52.77, SD = 10.03) completed the Polish versions of
the Religious Support Scale, the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, the Dark Future
Scale, and the Death Attitude Profile-Revised. Correlation analyses showed that
religious support was negatively related to loneliness, but not to fear of the future or
most death attitudes, except for a strong positive association with approach
acceptance. Loneliness was positively associated with fear of the future and
maladaptive death attitudes, whereas fear of the future was strongly linked to higher
fear of death, death avoidance, and escape acceptance, and negatively to neutral
acceptance. Approach acceptance was unrelated to fear of the future. A serial
multiple mediation model (Model 6; Hayes) revealed a significant indirect effect of
religious support on death attitudes through loneliness and fear of the future. Higher
religious support predicted lower loneliness, which in turn reduced fear of the future
and was associated with lower fear of death, death avoidance, and escape
acceptance, as well as higher neutral acceptance. Overall, the findings suggest that
religious support contributes to more adaptive attitudes toward death indirectly by
reducing loneliness and, consequently, fear of the future.
Religious support and attitudes toward death in middle and late adulthood: The mediating role of loneliness and fear of the future