This article highlights the diversity with which the Threat Index (TI) has been used in the last ten years to explore death-related topics in the empirical literature. Following a brief introduction of TI methodology and theoretical foundation, the following focal areas will be reviewed: 1) historical research questions; 2) multidimensional assessment; 3) alternative scoring procedures; 4) workshop applications; and 5) future directions. These topic areas attest to the TI's demonstrated theoretical and practical diversity as a psychometric tool, underscoring its importance to the field of thanatological research.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
KriegerS. R.EptingF. R., and LeitnerL. M., Personal Constructs, Threat, and Attitudes toward Death, Omega, 5, pp. 299–310, 1974.
2.
KriegerS. R.EptingF. R., and HayesL. H., Validity and Reliability of Provided Constructs in Assessing Death Threat, Omega, 20, pp. 87–95, 1979.
3.
KellyG. A., The Psychology of Personal Constructs, W. W. Norton, New York, 1955.
4.
NeimeyerR. A., Death Anxiety, in Dying: Facing the Facts (2nd Edition), WassH.BerardoF. and NeimeyerR. (eds.), Hemisphere, New York, pp. 97–136, 1988.
5.
KastenbaumR. and CostaP. T., Psychological Perspectives on Death, Annual Review of Psychology, 28, pp. 225–249, 1977.
6.
SimpsonM. A., Studying Death: Problems in Methodology, Death Education, 4, pp. 139–148, 1980.
7.
NeimeyerR. A. and MooreM. K., Assessing Personal Meanings of Death: Empirical Refinements in the Threat Index, Death Studies, 13, pp. 227–245, 1989.
8.
NeimeyerR. A. and EptingF. R., Measuring Personal Meanings of Death: 20 Years of Research Using the Threat Index, in Advances in Personal Construct Psychology, Vol. II, NeimeyerG. J. and NeimeyerR. A. (eds.), JAI Press, Greenwich, Connecticut, (in press).
9.
HoetlerJ. W., Multidimensional Treatment of Death, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47, pp. 996–999, 1979.
10.
RigdonM. A. and EptingF. R., Re-clarifying the Measurement of Death Attitudes, Omega, 12, pp. 143–146, 1981.
11.
DurlakJ. A. and KassR. A., Clarifying the Measurement of Death Attitudes: A Factor-analytic Evaluation of 15 Self-report Death Scales, Omega, 12, pp. 129–141, 1981.
12.
NeimeyerR. A.MooreM. K., and BagleyK. J., A Preliminary Factor Structure for the Threat Index, Death Studies, 12, pp. 217–225, 1988.
13.
MooreM. K., and NeimeyerR. A., A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Threat Index, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, (in press).
14.
GershbergM. S.HeesackerM.PrichardS., and EptingF. R., The Role of Concerns about the Dying Process in the Measurement of Death Threat, paper submitted for review, 1991.
15.
NeimeyerR. A. and ChapmanK. M., Self/ideal Discrepancy and Fear of Death: The Test of an Existential Hypothesis, Omega, 11, pp. 233–240, 1980.
16.
WoodK. and RobinsonP. J., Actualization and the Fear of Death: Retesting and Existential Hypothesis, Essence, 5, pp. 235–243, 1982.
17.
RobinsonP. J. and WoodK., The Threat Index: An Additive Approach, Omega, 14, pp. 139–144, 1983.
18.
RobinsonP. J. and WoodK., Fear of Death and Physical Illness; A Personal Construct Approach, in Personal Meanings of Death, EptingF. R. and NeimeyerR. A. (eds.), Hemisphere, New York, pp. 127–142, 1984.
19.
NeimeyerR. A., Personal Constructs in Depression: Research and Clinical Implications, in Personal Construct Theory and Mental Health, ButtonE. (ed.), Croom-Helm, Beckenham, Kent, England, pp. 82–102, 1985.
20.
PrichardS.EptingF. R., and BeagleJ. W., Alternative Scoring of the Threat Index: Assessment Using Self and Death Construct Valences, paper submitted for review, 1991.
21.
RigdonM. A. and EptingF. R., Reduction in Death Threat as a Basis for Optimal Functioning, Death Studies, 9, pp. 427–448, 1985.
22.
BeckA. T., Depression: Causes and Treatment, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1967.
23.
RoweD., The Construction of Life and Death, John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, England, and New York, 1982.
24.
RoweD., Depressions: The Way Out of Your Prison, Routledge, London, 1983.
25.
NeimeyerR. A., Towards a Personal Construct Conceptualization of Depression and Suicide, in Personal Meanings of Death: Applications of Personal Construct Theory to Clinical Practice, Hemisphere, New York, pp. 41–87, 1984.
26.
SpectorJ., The Impact of Crisis Intervention Training, unpublished manuscript, University of Florida, Gainesville, 1986.
27.
EptingF. R., Threat Index Workshop, unpublished manuscript, University of Florida, Gainesville, 1991.
28.
WarrenW. G., Personal Construction of Death and Death Education, Death Education, 6, pp. 17–28, 1982.
29.
WarrenW. G., Death Education and Research: Critical Perspectives, Haworth, New York, 1989.
30.
NeimeyerR. A.BagleyK. J., and MooreM. K., Cognitive Structure and Death Anxiety, Death Studies, 10, pp. 273–288, 1986.
31.
PrichardS. and EptingF. R., Children and Death: New Horizons in Theory and Measurement, Omega, 24, pp. 271–288, 1991–92.
