Doomsday is more than just an anticipated Marvel movie coming out in December. The belief in “Doomsday,” a catastrophic event leading to the cessation of all or most life on the planet, is no longer as fringe as it used to be according to a new study through the University of British Columbia and the University of California, Irvine. More than 3,400 people were surveyed across the US and Canada. Of the 1,409 religiously diverse respondents from the US, anywhere from 29% to 39% believe they are currently living in the end times.

The study looked at the belief in Doomsday as a psychological construct rather than just a religious belief and broke the belief in Doomsday into 5 dimensions: how soon the end will come; whether people will cause the world to end; whether God or supernatural forces will cause it; how much control humanity has over the outcome of a Doomsday event; and whether the end of the world is ultimately a good or bad thing.

Depending on religious (or non-religious) belief, a Doomsday event could be caused by climate change or the coming of the anti-Christ, a demonic figure who set up a kingdom for himself in rebellion to God, amongst other things. The study’s author, Matthew I. Billet of the University of California, Irvine, discussed how different beliefs about Doomsday impact an individual’s response. “Someone who believes humans are causing the apocalypse through climate change will respond very differently to environmental policy than someone who believes the end times are controlled by divine prophecy,” he said. All groups agreed that humanity had a role to play. “This was as true for the religious as it was for the non-religious. However, there were also differences between religious denominations that were quite stark. These differences point to how religion—and culture more broadly- can shape how we fundamentally view the world and our collective future.”

Individuals that perceived divine forces were behind end times events were far less than those who believed human actions were bringing about the end times to suggest preventative action. “Today, beliefs about accepting the Mark of the Beast from the Last Days undermine efforts at mass vaccination against COVID-19. The dread of climate apocalypse undermines young people’s motivation to tackle climate change and to bring children into this world,” said Billet, outlining the different ways different beliefs about end times manifest themselves in daily life. He said understanding how different people view and understand the end times is essential for creating concrete policies. “Whether or not any particular apocalyptic narrative is accurate, they are still consequential for how populations confront concrete risks.”