幼儿与成人的死亡认知和来生信念

Death Understanding and Afterlife Belief in Preschoolers and Adults

目的:探查4-5岁幼儿及成人对死亡概念的认知及其所具有的来生信念。方法:封闭式和开放式问题相结合,同时设计医院和宗教两种任务情境。结果:幼儿中认为人和动物最终会死的人数比例分别为77.0%和63.9%,低于成人组(均为100%),且高于认为非生物会死的人数比例(3.2%);虽然大多数幼儿认为死后所有生命活动都停止,但比例少于成人组;无论医院或宗教情境下,被试都认为精神活动与身体功能一样会随着死亡而停止;中国幼儿和成人中具有来生信念的比例远低于西方国家,但超过一半的成人被试提到想到有来生让他们感觉更好。结论:幼儿对死亡必然性和无功能性的认知水平低于成人。医院/宗教情境的设置对中国被试的死亡认知没有明显影响。中西方被试的来生信念有较大差异。

Objective：To investigate the understanding of death sub-concepts and afterlife belief in preschoolers and adults.Methods：Closed-ended questions were administered in hospital and religious context,and open-ended questions were asked in the following part.Results：77.0% and 63.9% of 4～5 years old preschoolers claimed humans and animals would die respectively,which was lower than adults＇ responses（both 100%） and higher than the percent of preschoolers who believed artifacts would die（3.2%）.The percent of preschool children who thought that all functions ceased after death was significantly lower than that of adults＇,but there was no separation between mental activities and body functions in both contexts.Fewer Chinese participants held an afterlife belief compared to Western counterparts,but more than half of adults mentioned thinking of afterlife made them feel better.Conclusion：Preschoolers＇ understanding of inevitability and non-functionality is different from adults＇.Chinese participants＇ death understanding does not vary by context.Chinese people hold less afterlife beliefs than Westerners.