Appendiks Metoder og opmærksomhedspunkter

First and foremost, the appendix explains the operationalization of the approach of the COVID-19 survey. As background for the articles, which presenting and interpret the analytical results, it also documents specific methodological approaches such as scales of religiosity and wellbeing, and factor-analysis of some of the survey responses. Approaches to content analysis are also delineated. Finally, we acknowledge and discuss the challenges associated with comparing surveys collected at different times and with different sampling approach. © 2021 Aarhus Universitet. All rights reserved.

Livsmening, krise og optimisme under COVID-19-epidemiens første nedlukning

This article investigates how the lockdown during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic affected the Danish population existentially in terms of experienced meaning in life or crisis of meaning, and whether specific socio-demographic characteristics and mental health were associated with these existential factors. The study finds that a majority of Danes express hope and trust in secular resources such as science, authorities, and humanity. This was also prevalent among participants who described themselves as religious. One-fourth of participants reported experiencing increased meaning in life, while another fourth reported experiencing a crisis of meaning. Especially young participants reported increased meaningfulness, but also higher crisis of meaning. Reporting a crisis of meaning was moderately associated with poorer mental health, as well as fear of contamination and lower education and income. This may indicate that individuals having fewer socio-economic resources are more vulnerable in a crisis like this. © 2021 Aarhus Universitet. All rights reserved.

Historiske og teoretiske baggrunde for COVID-19-pandemiens påvirkning af den danske befolkning

In this article, we present the historical and theoretical context informing the investigation into how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced religiosity in Denmark. We have chosen four foci, each of which contributes to the formation of a historical and theoretical context. First, we embed representations of death within a broad horizon informed by history of religion and cultural history. Beginning with early Christianity's ascent in a cult of the dead and, later, a cult of saints, to the change from burials inside the church to graveyards, we track the coinciding weakening of representations of the afterlife in the modern era. This naturally leads to a discussion of two prior cases in which an epidemic has elicited reactions from Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark: The Cholera epidemic of 1853 and the Spanish Flu in 1918-20. Then we expand our line of inquiry to a more general discussion of how major theories in the Study of Religion have modelled the relation between religion, death and suffering. Following a short introduction to how the human consciousness of death has been conceived as a major causal factor in both the emergence and maintenance of religious beliefs and institutions by major theoreticians of religion, we discuss a number of more recent psychological and sociological theories, that have informed the theoretical foundation of our investigation. In order to capture the praxis dimension of religion, we shortly discuss the particular role of ritual, before, finally presenting the 16 research questions that informed the construction of our survey. © 2021 Aarhus Universitet. All rights reserved.

COVID-19-krisen: Forløb og bekymringer

This article offers an overview over the political steps and containment proceedures during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark 2020. © 2021 Aarhus Universitet. All rights reserved.

Helbred og trivsel

During the first COVID-19 lockdown, public health officials and political decision makers were aware that the lockdown would have some sort of psychological repercussion, but it was totally unknown what reactions the disease would evoke. This article investigates how the physical and mental health (well-being) were affected. Data from the COVID-19 survey indicate that negative consequences were uneven distributed in the population with especially young women, but also young men reporting alarming degrees of low well-being. © 2021 Aarhus Universitet. All rights reserved.