Death Acceptance: A two-Component Formulation and Scale

Abstract

A formulation of death acceptance involving two components, confrontation and integration, is presented and discussed in the light of the literature on death attitudes. A proposed scale (Klug Death Acceptance Scale) to measure the two-component concept is also provided, including data on the scale's reliability and validity, along with some suggested norms. The contribution of this research is the clarification of the theoretical rationale for a multi-dimensional approach to death acceptance, an operationalization of the theory, and a proposed scale to measure it. Additional research on diverse populations, and a variety of measurement approaches, is needed to further establish the reliability and validity of the instrument.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Kastenbaum

and Aisenberg

, The Psychology of Death, New York, Springer Co., 1972.

Bugen

L. A.

, Death & Dying, Dubuque, W. C. Brown & Co., 1979.

Wass

(eds.), Death Education II: An Annotated Resource Guide, Hemisphere Publishing Corp., New York, 1985.

Ray

J. J.

and Najman

, Death Anxiety and Death Acceptance: A Preliminary Approach, Omega, 5:4, pp. 311–315, 1974.

Larsen

K. S.

, Attitudes Toward Death: A Desensitization Hypothesis, Psychological Reports, 35:2, pp. 687–690, 1974.

Klug

and Boss

, Factorial Structure of the Death Concern Scale, Psychological Reports, 38, pp. 107–112, 1976.

Elam

L. C.

, A Psychiatric Perspective on Death, in Perspectives on Death, Mills

, (ed.), Abingdon Press, New York, pp. 197–208, 1969.

Paskow

, What Do I Fear in Facing My Own Death?, Man and World, 8:2, pp. 146–156, 1975.

Feifel

, Death: Relevant Variable in Psychology, in Existential Psychology, May

Rollo

, (ed.), Random House, New York, pp. 58–71, 1969.

10.

Paskow

, The Meaning of My Own Death, International Philosophical Quarterly, 14:1, pp. 51–69, 1974.

11.

McKissack

I. J.

, On Death and Pigeon Feathers, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 14:4, pp. 79–83, 1974.

12.

Weisman

A. D.

, The Realization of Death, Jason Aronson, New York, 1974.

13.

Kurlychek

R. T.

, Assessment of Death Acceptance: A Proposed Scale, Psychology, 13:1, pp. 19–20, 1976.

14.

Dickstein

L. S.

, Death Concern: Measurements and Correlates, Psychological Reports, 30, pp. 563–571, 1972.

15.

Templer

D. I.

, The Construction and Validation of a Death Anxiety Scale, Journal of General Psychology, 82, pp. 165–177, 1970.

16.

Rychlak

P. J.

and Rychlak

J. F.

, Curvilinearity Between Dream Content and Death Anxiety and the Relationship of Death Anxiety to Repression-Sensitization, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 77:1, pp. 11–17, 1971.

17.

Chandler

, An Investigation of the Relationship Between Personality Type and Reconciliation With Death, Unpublished M.Ed. Thesis, University of Alberta, 1980.

18.

Templer

D. I.

and Ruff

C. F.

, Death Anxiety Scale Means, Standard Deviations and Embedding, Psychological Reports, 29:1, pp. 173–174, 1971.