Elements of death anxiety and meanings of death

The objectives of this study were: (1) to test hypotheses that women would have higher death anxiety than men and that older persons would have lower death anxiety than younger people; and (2) to probe for meanings of death among a large, heterogeneous sample. A group of 599 adolescents and adults completed a death anxiety scale; factor analysis of the resultant data revealed seven orthogonal factors. Both hypotheses were supported at acceptable levels of significance. Item analysis revealed additional information on meanings of death: Older respondents indicated a concern over the existence of an afterlife and over loss of personal control; women expressed more fear of pain and bodily decomposition. The strongest finding was variation in death anxiety by age, which confirms Butler's contention that the life review helps the aged to resolve conflicts and relieve anxiety.