Cognitive psychology

Philosophy

Social psychology

Existentialism

Mortality salience

Computer security

Economics

Openness to experience

Computer science

Terror management theory

Religious orientation

Vulnerability (computing)

Faith

Database

Psychology

Salience (neuroscience)

Commit

Political science

Epistemology

Positive economics

International Journal for the Psychology of Religion

Terror management theory suggests people can manage existential concerns through faith in their cultural systems, including religious beliefs. It is not clear, however, how people with a religious "quest" orientation manage such existential concerns. The present research explored the intersection between existential concern and religious quest. Quest individuals experience doubt, which comes at the cost of greater death-related anxieties (Study 1, n= 654), cognitions (Study 2, n = 167), and vulnerability against mortality reminders (Study 3, n= 226). Second, mortality salience (MS) led people high in quest to become more culturally open-minded (Study 4, n = 100), and less likely to believe-in or commit-to their supernatural agent (Study 5, n = 120). These responses were mitigated when quest individuals were first prompted to explore (a step toward resolving) their doubts and uncertainties (Study 6, n = 462). Implications for quest orientation and existential defense- vs. growth-motivation are discussed.

The Existential Quest: Doubt, Openness, and the Exploration of Religious Uncertainty