Death imagery and death anxiety

This study investigated the relationship between positive/negative death imagery and death anxiety. Subjects were 179 undergraduate students at a large, private, midwestern university. Results reveal that on five measures of death anxiety the subjects with low death anxiety scores had significantly...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of clinical psychology 1986-01, Vol.42 (1), p.87-91
Main Authors: McDonald, Rita T., Hilgendorf, William A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Anxiety - psychology
Applied sciences
Attitude to Death
Biological and medical sciences
Death
Exact sciences and technology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Imagination
Male
Other techniques and industries
Psychology and medicine
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Sex Factors
Thanatology
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Summary:This study investigated the relationship between positive/negative death imagery and death anxiety. Subjects were 179 undergraduate students at a large, private, midwestern university. Results reveal that on five measures of death anxiety the subjects with low death anxiety scores had significantly more positive death images than did those with high death anxiety scores. The few subjects who imagined death to be young (N = 14) had a significantly more positive image of death than those who perceived it to be an old person. Death was seen as male by 92% of the male respondents and 74% of the female respondents. Significant differences in death imagery and death anxiety were found between subjects enrolled in an introductory psychology course and those enrolled in a thanatology course. No sex differences in death anxiety or positive/negative death imagery were found.
ISSN:0021-9762
1097-4679
DOI:10.1002/1097-4679(198601)42:1<87::AID-JCLP2270420113>3.0.CO;2-S