Concerns about Death in Relation to Sex,Dependency,Guilt about Hostility and Feelings of Powerlessness

Abstract

In this study, sixty-one male and sixty-five female college students in a New England state university were administered tests of dependency, guilt about hostility, Rotter's I-E scale, and tests of death concern. In addition, stories about death were subjected to thematic analysis. Results failed to show relationship between death related concerns of loss, violence-mutilation, helplessness-mastery and personality characteristics measured. Discussion of results focuses upon the importance of discriminating between affective fear of death and cognitive preoccupation with death, differences in the sexes' interpretation of questions about death, the importance of early experience in forming death attitudes.

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