End of world beliefs are common, diverse, and predict how people perceive and respond to global risks.

Do you believe the world will come to an end within your lifetime, and does that belief change the way you see existential threats to humanity? One-third of Americans answer yes to the first question; we venture to answer the second question here. Stories about the end of the world are historically and globally prevalent and come in many flavours. End of world beliefs have been hypothesized to shape processes of risk perception and social behaviour that have implications for how societies respond to existential threats. Despite their cultural significance, current understanding of the psychology of these beliefs is lacking. In this article, we present the results of six pilot studies (N = 2,079) and one pre-registered study (N = 1,409) that establish a psychological framework for end of world beliefs. A measure of end of world beliefs was created and validated across six religious populations (Catholics, Mainline Protestants, Evangelical Protestants, Jews, Muslims, and nonreligious). We find that end of world beliefs are common, vary along psychologically meaningful dimensions, and are uniquely predictive of people’s risk perception, risk tolerance, and willingness to support extreme action to address the five most pressing global existential risks (i.e., economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal, and technological). Results are interpreted in light of current models of risk perception and the cultural evolution of worldviews. Aligning with sociological and historical analyses, we argue that belief in apocalyptic narratives—irrespective of their accuracy—is consequential for how populations confront concrete risks, including those that threaten humanity today.