Religiosity and the justification of euthanasia: A model of mediation (trust in the church) and moderation (beliefs in life after death)

Abstract

This article explores the mediating role of trust in the church and the moderating role of beliefs in life after death in the relationship between religiosity and the justification of euthanasia. Two studies were designed using the latest data from the European Values Study for Portugal (traditional values) and the United Kingdom (secular-rational values). The models were tested in each country using Hayes’s process macro for spss and 20,000 bootstrap samples. The results showed that beliefs in life after death moderated the (negative) relationship between religiosity and the justification of euthanasia in Portugal and the uk. However, trust in the church mediated the relationship only in Portugal.