Policies for religious and the practice of burning votive papers for the deceased: a survey in vietnam

Every foreigner who comes to Vietnam on Tet and other spiritual holiday of the year is very surprised when witnessing the phenomenon of offering votive papers for the dead everywhere. This fact has received great attention from domestic and international scientists. However, previous studies only stopped at qualitative research. To enrich the research literature, this study explores the relationship between individual religious orientation and the behavior of Vietnamese people to burn votive papers for the dead. This study was conducted through a cross- sectional survey using intentional sampling technique (n=200). Multivariate linear regression analysis technique was applied to prove the hypotheses. Research results show that there is a relationship between religious orientation and Vietnamese people's behavior of burning votive papers for the dead. Individuals with external religious orientation tend to offer votive papers to the dead from non-religious motives. Individuals with an inner religious orientation tend to offer votive papers to the dead out of religious motives."