How do people think about the legitimacy of decisions at the end of life? What makes them oppose or favor the freedom to end one's own life voluntarily? Values and religious orientation prove to be important predictors of attitudes towards euthanasia. Values of self-expression entail the acceptance of euthanasia, while religiosity and acceptance of euthanasia are negatively correlated (Beckers et al., 2012). In addition to that Siegers (2012) differentiates between six types of religious orientation and demonstrates that it depends on a person's religious orientation which values are emphasized.
Based on these findings we assume a joint effect of values and religious orientation on attitudes towards end-of-life decisions. We propose that congruence between values and religious orientation should increase their total effect on attitudes towards euthanasia because they reinforce each other in attitude formation. Furthermore we expect that incongruence between values and religious orientation should attenuate their total effects on attitudes towards euthanasia.
The present study examines the hypothesis stated above with survey data of the study "Life and Values in Germany" (n= 730, online access panel, 2010) including questions on religious orientation, human values (Portrait Value Questionnaire, Schwartz et al. 2001) and attitudes towards euthanasia and assisted suicide. By means of structural equation models we show that self-determination and opposition to traditional values mediate the effects of spiritual and bricolage orientations on the acceptance of euthanasia. Furthermore we show that emphasizing stimulation and hedonism reduces opposition to euthanasia in traditional religious people.