The Relationship between Death Anxiety and Subjective Well-being: The Three-way Moderating Effect of the Life Meaning and Social Support (original) (raw)

Investigation of the Death Anxiety and Meaning in Life Levels among Middle-Aged Adults

SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY AND COUNSELING, 2017

Life and death constitute a whole, and these concepts become increasingly important in the evaluation of life among middleaged adults. Therefore, this study investigated the correlation between individual levels of death anxiety and meaning in life in terms of certain variables such as gender, age, educational status, marital status, perceived level of devoutness, and witness to death. The sample consisted of 185 individuals (82 males, 103 females; aged 25-55 years) living in Istanbul, Turkey. The data was collected by using a Personal Information Form, the Death Anxiety Scale, and the Meaning in Life Questionnaire. The findings showed that, as the death anxiety and meaning in life subscale levels increased, the meaning in life levels decreased. In addition, it was found that death anxiety does not differ according to the following variables: age (25-35 and 35-55 years), educational status, marital status, perceived religious belief, and living with someone. The results also indicated that women tend to experience more death anxiety than men, and that individuals who witnessed the death of a close person generally feel more death anxiety than those who did not.

Linking Social Psychology to Existential Psychology: Promises and Challenges A review of Meaning, Mortality, and Choice: The Social Psychology of Existential Concerns

The edited volume Meaning, Mortality, and Choice: The Social Psychology of Existential Concerns, part of the Herzliya Series on Personality and Social Psychology, is primarily concerned with how existential concerns affect goals, attitudes, and behavior. More specifically, it focuses on the four existential anxieties identified by Yalom (1980): death, meaninglessness, freedom, and alienation. The editors are correct in pointing out that these concerns weigh heavily on contemporary human beings, but they are incorrect in assuming that these concerns " caus[e] some to despair and a considerable number to use drugs, illegal or legally prescribed, to blunt the misery. A few even decide to end their lives " (p. xv). My immediate reaction is that such concerns may also have positive effects such as living more meaningfully and responsibly in order to make the best use of our limited time on earth. Elsewhere, I have pointed out that every existential anxiety reflects a fundamental

Perspectives on the Fears of Death & Dying

2006

Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.nl.edu/faculty\_publications Part of the Bioethics and Medical Ethics Commons, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Commons, Cognitive Psychology Commons, Counseling Psychology Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Marriage and Family Therapy and Counseling Commons, Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy Commons, Psychological Phenomena and Processes Commons, and the Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling Commons

Descriptive Phenomenological Analysis of Influences to Death Anxiety

2019

There are two certainties in life: we are born, and we will die. Everything in between birth and death is our life. This truth leads many individuals to existential questions: What is the meaning of life? How do we become satisfied with life, knowing that death is impending? Does awareness of death motivate how we live? Death anxiety is a well-studied subject; well over 500 studies provide information on who is the most fearful of death among a variety of groups (women versus men, religious verses secular, youth verses elderly, et cetera). These studies also use presuppositions to explain fear of death, such as, elder individuals have less fear of death due to life experience, a practical reason that makes sense and is likely true. My study looks beyond practical reasoning. I used descriptive phenomenological research to explore the subjective experiences of six individuals, to look beyond presuppositions and examine personal reasoning, and explore whether there were commonalities among their experiences. This study found ten (10) commonalities within the subjective experience of each participant that influenced each person's fear of death. In the whole these commonalities describe the structure of a phenomenon, experiences that alter the fear of death and influences actions taken in life. The commonalities are loss, selfishness, worry about the process of dying, helplessness over what cannot be controlled, common daily fears, meaning-making that is embedded in general reasoning, reports of self-protection, pleasure-seeking drives, struggles with internal and external values, and a v feeling of relief that is found in those who have lost a loved one to chronic illness. This study provides an enhanced understanding of how individuals process death anxiety. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and Ohio Link ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/etd.

Death Confrontation Through Existential Psychology

I will summarize one of the main themes of existentialists: the confrontation with death. I will then discuss this theme in the context of the works of two of the major existential psychotherapists noted in the readings. I will show how this theme is worked through clinically by each of the psychotherapists and compare and contrast how each approach the theme. Fourth, I will develop a critique of their positions; e.g., what their theories don't cover. Finally, I will explain my own position on these issues, and elaborate why an existentialist psychotherapeutic approach is important.