What happens after death? Does everything go black or does it continue in a way we can't explain? A major survey in Sweden has provided answers to what Swedes think about just this, and perhaps the figures are quite similar in both Sweden and Denmark? The survey also revealed differences in thoughts about death between men and women.
A recent Swedish Sifo survey, commissioned by funeral home Fonus, shows that more women than men regularly think about death. In addition to thinking more about death, women are also more likely to have a «positive» idea of what happens after death. As many as 73 percent of women think about death at least once a month, compared with 60 percent of men.
More thoughts about death among women
When it comes to what happens after death, 57 percent of men believe that it just ends when you die. Women, on the other hand, are more open to something more happening, with only 38 percent of women sharing the men's opinion.
Of the remaining 62% of women who believe something more happens after death, 26 percent believe that the soul lives on or that life continues in some way, while 23 percent believe that you are reunited with loved ones who have passed away before.
The corresponding figure for men is about half of this or lower, suggesting a more skeptical view among many men.
Why is this the case?
A funeral director from Fonus, Conny Sohlberg, comments that the differences are not necessarily about right and wrong - but about how we seek comfort, meaning and security in the face of life's big questions. He points out that there is a human warmth in conversations about death: it provides an opportunity to share, reflect and feel a sense of community.
The survey does not directly show why women and men think so differently, but there may be several reasons such as social and cultural differences in how we deal with vulnerability and openness.
What Swedes believe happens after death
| Questions | In total | Men | women |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nothing, it just ends | 48% | 57% | 38% |
| Life goes on, but unsure how | 20% | 14% | 26% |
| The soul lives on | 19% | 13% | 26% |
| Reuniting with loved ones who have passed away before | 15% | 8% | 23% |
| Do not know | 12% | 13% | 12% |
| You are reborn in one way or another | 9% | 6% | 11% |
| You come to a wonderful place | 8% | 5% | 10% |
| What my religion says | 4% | 5% | 4% |
| Other | 2% | 3% | 1% |
