Abstract
This study examined the 7-factor multidimensional structure of the Japanese life-and-death perspective (Hirai et al., 2000) and explored its variations across gender, age, and religious affiliations among 3,102 Japanese participants. The results supported this multidimensional structure. Regarding attribute differences, effect size analyses revealed that age and its interaction effects had a greater association with these perspectives than gender. Regarding gender differences, women scored higher than men only on “Afterlife belief,” and this difference showed a small effect size. A notable interaction effect was observed for “Supernatural belief” in which women in their 50s scored higher than men, with a medium effect size. With respect to religious affiliation, the group with no religious affiliation scored significantly lower than those in any religious group on all sub-factors except “Death avoidance.” Finally, differences in “Death relief” were particularly pronounced, as the Christian group scored significantly higher than both the non-affiliated and Buddhist groups, with a medium effect size.
