The most religious Americans are the most likely to say they will die happy
Apart from our yearly interactions with the IRS only death is inevitable, but even though all of us are mortal beings our approaches to the end and our understanding of what, if anything, comes after vary dramatically.
YouGov's latest research shows that most Americans say that they are scared of death. 18% of Americans are scared 'a lot' by death, while 47% are scared 'a little' by the thought of their own mortality. 29% of Americans aren't scared at all by the prospect.
Most Americans believe that there is an afterlife, with 44% saying that there definitely is one and 20% saying that there probably is one. 12% think that there probably is not an afterlife while 10% say that there definitely is not an afterlife.
Very religious Americans are the most likely to say that, if they were to die today, that they would die happy. 60% of people who say that religion is 'very important' for them say that they would die happy, while just under 40% of people for whom religion is less important say the same. Perhaps the reason for this is that 77% of the most religious Americans think they will go to heaven, compared to only 38% of the rest of the population.
Intriguingly, how definitely held your opinions are about an afterlife are a better guide to how little death does or does not scare you than whether or not you believe in an afterlife at all. 35% of Americans who say that there definitely is or is not an afterlife are not at all scared by the prospect of death, but among people who are more hesitant that figure drops to little over 20%.
Full poll results can be found here and topline results and margin of error here.
