Classification of Intrinsic Religiosity
Religious commitment can be seen as a spectrum with intrinsic religiosity at one end and extrinsic religiosity at the opposite end. Although both sides follow religion, they have very different views on the correct way to adhere to religious teachings. Intrinsic religiosity is personal, intimate spiritual belief. This end of the religiosity spectrum includes the full integration of religion into peoples’ daily lives. They internalize and seek to live their lives deeply following their religious beliefs, dedicating themselves to a higher power. Extrinsic religiosity is using religion as more of a social aspect in order to meet new people and connect to like-minded individuals. They attend church and other religious functions for what they can gain from the experience, like social acceptance or advancement (Neimeyer, 2011). Those with extrinsic religiosity view attending spiritual functions as a cultural norm. Intrinsic spirituality measures the degree of personal spiritual beliefs, while extrinsic spirituality measures religious practice shared within a community (Lai, Luciani & Galli, 2016). Death anxiety is a…show more content… Intrinsic religiosity, as opposed to extrinsic religiosity, focuses on a personal connection rather than a social responsibility, therefore deepening the following. Death anxiety occurs at the end of one’s life when the individual is aware of a potential end of life. This death anxiety causes psychological, physical, social, and motivational issues on those in the end of their life. Intrinsic religiosity brings about the acceptance of death, ego integrity, benign afterlife beliefs, and the presence of a comforting community. Research studies show that the presence of intrinsic religiosity decreases overall death anxiety of those in end of life hospice