Extremely Religious, Atheists ‘Least Afraid’ to Die

Oxford University research yields interesting results on fear of death. Research at Oxford University recently determined the people most afraid and least afraid of dying. The results are quite interesting, according to the Daily Mail in “How afraid are YOU of dying? Researchers say atheists and the most religious are the least scared.” Estate planning can make people think about what will happen after they pass away. For many people, that leads to think about the act of death itself, and they are often deathly afraid of it. Unfortunately, that causes some people to delay estate planning for too long and they pass away without estate plans. The “least afraid” list includes those people who are extremely religious and interestingly enough atheists. The analysis shows that those on the “most afraid” of death list are those people who are mildly religious and who may only join a religious group for social and economic reasons. Of course, people cannot act on this information to make themselves have less fear of death. It is difficult to force yourself to be more or less religious than you are. However, those who have put off estate planning due to a fear of passing away, can use this information to understand that their fear is normal. An estate planning attorney can guide you through the process of designing an estate plan that fits your unique circumstances. Reference: Daily Mail (March 24, 2017) “How afraid are YOU of dying? Researchers say atheists and the most religious are the least scared.”