恐怖管理理論における死と宗教 : 宗教は死の不安の緩衝なのか

This paper examines the latest research on religion conducted within the framework of the Terror Management Theory (TMT) which has over the past 25 years produced a large body of work relevant to the study of human motivation and culture. From the standpoint of religious studies and with a view to contributing to the development of death and life studies which are currently being systematized in Japan, this paper analyzes the overall concept of religion in the TMT and its approach and results in studying the link between death anxiety and religious beliefs. The paper concludes that in recent years TMT researchers have made progress in theoretically solidifying their approach to religion, and have started to take active steps to address the long-standing lack of empirical studies on religion by TMT, so as to produce a more refined outlook on religion. However, their work remains insensitive to the possibility that certain doctrines and beliefs may induce the very anxiety regarding death they are supposed to assuage. The paper calls for a better understanding of doctrinal diversity; cultural and personal differences in the reception of religious teachings; thorough examination of previous empirical studies on death anxiety and religion which present conflicting results with those of TMT; as well as more consideration for the multidimensionality of death anxiety