Religious and Secular Attitudes towards Death: The Study of a Sample of University Students in Tehran

Death is a pervasive phenomenon and one of the main concerns and anxieties for all human beings. Besides, thoughts and concerns about death are constructed in a social context and religious traditions are one of the main sources for answering the question of death and overcoming unpleasant experiences associated with it. Additionally, with the growth of non-religious sensemaking systems in the modern world, this question is brought up that how people in non-religious sensemaking systems encounter with the problems of death and obsessions related to it. This article studies the attitudes of students toward death according to their religiosity status. Research data were collected through purposive and theoretical sampling and also through open-end and in-depth interview. For analyzing obtained information grounded theory is used. The results of study are formed in eight categories. “Death attitude engrossed to life” is brought up central category and students’ attitude towards death have been compared in two attitudes, religious and secular