Death Anxiety Among New Zealanders: The Predictive Roles of Religion, Spirituality, and Family Connection.
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| Title: | Death Anxiety Among New Zealanders: The Predictive Roles of Religion, Spirituality, and Family Connection. |
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| Authors: | MacLeod, Rod1, Wilson, Donna M.2, Crandall, Jackie2, Austin, Phil3 paustin@hammond.com.au |
| Source: | Omega: Journal of Death & Dying. Nov2019, Vol. 80 Issue 1, p3-19. 17p. 3 Charts. |
| Subject Terms: | *Anxiety, *Attitude (Psychology), *Group identity, *Family relations, Spirituality, Cross-sectional method, Questionnaires, Attitudes toward death, Religion |
| Geographic Terms: | New Zealand |
| Abstract: | The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate attitudes of New Zealanders toward death and dying. We administered an online version of Collett–Lester Fear of Death Scale and Concerns about Dying Instrument subscales to a representative sample of the New Zealand population. One thousand one people responded to the survey, where the largest age-group lay between 30 and 39 years. Respondents with strong religious beliefs showed strongest agreement to being anxious about their own death compared to those who have no religious beliefs (p =.0005). Conversely, participants with strong spiritual beliefs did not feel anxious about dying (=.0005). Participants with strong family connections believed their religion/spirituality helped them think about death compared to those with weak family connections (p >.0001). Our findings show that strong religious beliefs significantly predict higher levels of death anxiety compared to participants with strong spiritual beliefs. This is probably due to the cultural identity of those sampled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Omega: Journal of Death & Dying is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
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| Abstract: | The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate attitudes of New Zealanders toward death and dying. We administered an online version of Collett–Lester Fear of Death Scale and Concerns about Dying Instrument subscales to a representative sample of the New Zealand population. One thousand one people responded to the survey, where the largest age-group lay between 30 and 39 years. Respondents with strong religious beliefs showed strongest agreement to being anxious about their own death compared to those who have no religious beliefs (p =.0005). Conversely, participants with strong spiritual beliefs did not feel anxious about dying (=.0005). Participants with strong family connections believed their religion/spirituality helped them think about death compared to those with weak family connections (p >.0001). Our findings show that strong religious beliefs significantly predict higher levels of death anxiety compared to participants with strong spiritual beliefs. This is probably due to the cultural identity of those sampled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 00302228 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/0030222817724307 |
