Mexican children’s afterlife beliefs: Co-existence of biological, religious, and cultural models

People around the world often think that biological processes like growing and eating stop after death, but that psychological processes like wanting and thinking continue into the afterlife. This has been studied in multiple cultures, but rarely in the context of a culture that promotes believing in the continuation of biological processes. In this study, we investigated how 3- to 12-year-old children from Puebla, Mexico (n = 60, 50% girls, 50% boys) think about the afterlife. These children celebrated Día de los Muertos, a ritual where it is believed that dead relatives come back to the living world to eat food that is put out for them. We also examined how their beliefs changed depending on whether they were presented with religious or secular narratives, or when interviewed about their beliefs on this ritual. Our results replicated prior findings, showing that older children thought that more processes continued in the afterlife, particularly psychological processes. We also found evidence of co-existence of belief with children thinking that more processes continue when presented with religious than secular narratives. Additionally, children also showed beliefs on the continuation of biological processes like eating, but only in the context of Día de los Muertos. This research contributes to our understanding of how participation in cultural rituals influences children’s conceptual development and how children flexibly use different models depending on the context they are presented with.