To compare how people of different faiths answered the questions, click here.
In addition to the multiple choice questions, thousands of readers wrote in answers to the optional essay question: "Have you ever felt as if a dead person was trying to communicate with you? Describe your experience." Click here to read a selection.
In addition to the multiple choice questions, thousands of readers wrote in answers to the optional essay question: "Have you ever felt as if a dead person was trying to communicate with you? Describe your experience." Click here to read a selection.
Results Overall | ||||||||
1. You believe that when people die, their souls/spirits: | ||||||||
Remain earthbound temporarily | 8.9% | |||||||
Move on to an eternal afterlife | 50.4 | |||||||
Go to an in-between stage | 12.1% | |||||||
Are reincarnated | 12% | |||||||
No longer exist | 2.2% | |||||||
I don't know | 14.4% |
2. What best describes for you the relationship between the living and the dead? | |
The souls of the dead protect the living as angels or spirit guides | 42.6% |
The souls of the dead haunt us as ghosts | 11.5% |
Souls in heaven can hear our prayers/intercede for us with God | 34.1% |
The dead can communicate but have no power over our lives | 30% |
The dead cannot communicate with the living in any way | 12.8% |
I'm not sure | 24% |
3. Have you ever tried to contact the dead by: | |
Consulting a psychic or medium | 21% |
Using a Ouija board | 28% |
Performing a seance | 14% |
Praying or meditating | 63% |
Speaking, either out loud or in your head | 69% |
Using EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) | 3% |
4. You believe the ability to communicate with the dead is: | |
Something everyone has the potential for | 35.9% |
A spiritual gift that only some people have | 25% |
An evil power/dangerous occult activity | 7.2% |
I don't know if it's possible | 23.7% |
There is no such thing | 8.1% |
5. Have you ever: | |
Felt the presence of a dead person | 68% |
Felt the presence of a guardian angel or spirit guide | 77% |
Spoken with the spirit of someone who has died | 25% |
Seen a "sign" from one who has died | 57% |
Dreamed about someone who has died | 92% |
Experienced paranormal activity | 56% |
6. Your experiences with the dead have been mostly: | |
Positive | 51.5% |
Negative | 2.4% |
Neutral | 24% |
N/A | 22.1% |
Results by Faith | ||||||||
1. You believe that when people die, their souls/spirits: | ||||||||
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Christians | Jews | Muslims | Buddhists | Hindus | Wiccans | Atheist/ Agnostic | Spiritual not Religious |
Remain earthbound temporarily | 8.7% | 8.4% | 5.6% | 8.3% | 8.4% | 12.5% | 5.7% | 9.1% |
Move on to an eternal afterlife | 64.8% | 29.8% | 45.3% | 4.9% | 20.5% | 13.7% | 3.3% | 25.8% |
Go to an in-between stage | 10.1% | 8.4% | 31.7% | 13.2% | 6% | 20.2% | 3.3% | 16.4% |
Are reincarnated | 4.9% | 15% | 3.1% | 46.3% | 48.2% | 41.1% | 10.7% | 25.6% |
No longer exist | 1.3% | 4.7% | 2.5% | 6.3% | 1.2% | 0% | 41.8% | 1.7% |
I don't know | 10.1% | 33.7% | 11.8% | 21% | 15.7% | 12.5% | 35.2% | 21.4% |
2. What best describes for you the relationship between the living and the dead?: | ||||||||
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Christians | Jews | Muslims | Buddhists | Hindus | Wiccans | Atheist/ Agnostic | Spiritual not Religious |
The souls of the dead protect the living as angels or spirit guides | 40.7% | 31.5% | 15.5% | 22.9% | 43.4% | 61.9% | 15.6% | 52.1% |
The souls of the dead haunt us as ghosts | 8.8% | 6.1% | 3.1% | 11.2% | 6% | 35.1% | 11.5% | 17% |
Souls in heaven can hear our prayers/intercede for us with God | 37.1% | 21.7% | 19.9% | 11.2% | 27.7% | 26.2% | 5.7% | 31.9% |
The dead can communicate but have no power over our lives | 26.7% | 22.3% | 28.6% | 35.6% | 32.5% | 48.2% | 15.6% | 39.6% |
The dead cannot communicate with the living in any way | 15% | 15% | 26.7% | 16.6% | 7.2% | 1.2% | 45.9% | 3.8% |
I'm not sure | 23.4% | 39% | 28% | 30.7% | 27.7% | 16.1% | 35.2% | 23% |
3. Have you ever tried to contact the dead by: | ||||||||
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Christians | Jews | Muslims | Buddhists | Hindus | Wiccans | Atheist/ Agnostic | Spiritual not Religious |
Consulting a psychic or medium | 16% | 18% | 7% | 16% | 15% | 46% | 6% | 37% |
Using a Ouija board | 24% | 23% | 15% | 33% | 16% | 52% | 33% | 38% |
Performing a seance | 10% | 9% | 4% | 14% | 6% | 38% | 16% | 22% |
Praying or meditating | 58% | 49% | 30% | 57% | 50% | 88% | 42% | 77% |
Speaking, either out loud or in your head | 66% | 66% | 29% | 68% | 43% | 89% | 48% | 85% |
Using EVP* | 2% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 1% | 15% | 3% | 5% |
4. You believe the ability to communicate with the dead is: | ||||||||
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Christians | Jews | Muslims | Buddhists | Hindus | Wiccans | Atheist/ Agnostic | Spiritual not Religious |
Something everyone has the potential for | 28.8% | 26.8% | 14.9% | 38% | 24.1% | 73.1% | 17.4% | 56.9% |
A spiritual gift that only some people have | 26.4% | 17.3% | 23.6% | 22% | 31.3% | 19.8% | 12.4% | 24.6% |
An evil power/dangerous occult activity | 10.4% | 2.8% | 6.2% | 0% | 2.4% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
I don't know if it's possible | 25.7% | 39.1% | 31.1% | 28.8% | 31.3% | 6.6% | 26.4% | 15.4% |
There is no such thing | 8.8% | 14% | 24.2% | 11.2% | 10.8% | 0.6% | 43.8% | 2.1% |
5. Have you ever: | ||||||||
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Christians | Jews | Muslims | Buddhists | Hindus | Wiccans | Atheist/ Agnostic | Spiritual not Religious |
Felt the presence of a dead person | 55% | 60% | 38% | 59% | 51% | 93% | 37% | 72% |
Felt the presence of a guardian angel or spirit guide | 77% | 55% | 53% | 63% | 50% | 89% | 26% | 84% |
Spoken with the spirit of someone who has died | 31% | 28% | 17% | 28% | 23 | 70% | 17% | 53% |
Seen a "sign" from one who has died | 54% | 45% | 30% | 47% | 36% | 87% | 27% | 73% |
Dreamed about someone who has died | 93% | 89% | 83% | 89% | 85% | 96% | 72% | 95% |
Experienced paranormal activity | 50% | 50% | 31% | 67% | 37% | 92% | 41% | 75% |
6. Your experiences with the dead have been mostly: | ||||||||
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Christians | Jews | Muslims | Buddhists | Hindus | Wiccans | Atheist/ Agnostic | Spiritual not Religious |
Positive | 49.7% | 44.6% | 29.2% | 39.5% | 38.6% | 64.3% | 19.7% | 61.3% |
Negative | 2.4% | 1.9% | 3.7% | 2% | 3.6 | 1.2% | 4.9% | 1.8% |
Neutral | 22.5% | 27.6% | 21.7% | 35.1% | 28.9% | 29.8% | 31.1% | 26.3% |
N/A | 25.4% | 25.9% | 45.3% | 23.4% | 28.9% | 4.8% | 44.3% | 10.6% |