Evaluation of death anxiety and effecting factors in a Turkish sample

Abstract

Previous research indicates that people with higher levels of self-actualization have lower death anxiety and that negative emotional states are related to death anxiety. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between death anxiety and self-actualization, depression, and trait anxiety. A Turkish sample of 116 undergraduates and adults completed Templer's Death Anxiety Scale, Personal Orientation Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory's Trait Anxiety Form. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that the only significant predictors of death anxiety were trait anxiety and gender. The correlation between death anxiety and self -actualization was found to be negative and statistically significant (p < .001). Women had significantly higher death anxiety compared to men; whereas death anxiety mean scores did not show significant differences by age group and the belief in afterlife. In conclusion, this study supports the assumptions of the existential school regarding the association between death anxiety and self-actualization.

Comparison of the Relationship Between Death Anxiety and Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms Among Norwegian and Turkish Female Psychology Students

“…Surprisingly, our hypothesis was not confirmed by the analysis, and Turkish subjects were found to have a higher death anxiety level. As previously mentioned, Turkish culture was posited to be closer to Eastern culture, and the findings of this study contradict those of several previous studies which claimed that Eastern cultures are inclined to be better at buffering death anxiety than Western cultures (Gedik & Bahadır, 2014;Gire, 2014;Gu¨ng€ or, 2007;Ku¨bler-Ross, 1975;Mcmordie & Kumar, 1984;Schumaker et al, 1988;Westman & Canter, 1985). This inconsistency, together with the limited number of studies on this topic in the literature, illustrates how important it is for further studies to be conducted which compare death anxiety across different cultures.…”

“…Very few data are available from Norway in relation to death anxiety (Lester et al., 2007). Furthermore, evidence suggests that Turkish culture tends to be different from Western cultures with regard to the meaning it accords to death and in relation to death rituals (Gedik & Bahadır, 2014; Güngör, 2007). As previous studies encourage further research to investigate different cultural perspectives and assess how they differ from Western cultures in relation to death anxiety, it therefore made sense to compare Turkish and Norwegian participants (Abdel-Khalek et al., 2009; Neimeyer et al., 2003; Suhail & Akram, 2002).…”

“…First, as previously mentioned, Eastern cultures are considered to be better at buffering death anxiety than Western cultures (Gire, 2014; Kübler-Ross, 1975; Mcmordie & Kumar, 1984; Westman & Canter, 1985). Some studies claim that Turkish culture is closer to Eastern cultures than Western cultures (e.g., Gedik & Bahadır, 2014; Güngör, 2007; Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010; Mocan-Aydin, 2000). Moreover, a number of researchers suggest that Turkish culture tends to be different from Western cultures in relation to the meaning attributed to death and the explanations given for death, and that this may help Turkish culture to buffer death anxiety better than Western cultures (Gedik & Bahadır, 2014).…”

“…Some studies claim that Turkish culture is closer to Eastern cultures than Western cultures (e.g., Gedik & Bahadır, 2014; Güngör, 2007; Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010; Mocan-Aydin, 2000). Moreover, a number of researchers suggest that Turkish culture tends to be different from Western cultures in relation to the meaning attributed to death and the explanations given for death, and that this may help Turkish culture to buffer death anxiety better than Western cultures (Gedik & Bahadır, 2014). As Turkey is considered to be closer to Eastern cultural norms, we therefore expected it to score significantly lower on death anxiety than Norway, which follows Western cultural norms.…”

Death anxiety and visual oculomotor processing of arousing stimuli in a free view setting

“…According to TMT, DA is the driving force behind anxiety, which leads to the dependence of other perspectives on DA activation. Personality factors indicate individual vulnerability to experiencing DA activation (Boucher, ; Finch, Iverach, Menzies & Jones, ; Gedik & Bahadír, ; Hoelter & Hoelter, ; Kelley, Tang & Schmeichel, ). DA has primarily been associated with the radicalization of behavior (Pyszczynski et al ., ), and only recently, DA has been associated with attraction, interest in sexual matters and mating tendencies (Birnbaum, Hirschberger & Goldenberg, ; Cox & Arndt, ; Landau, Rothschild & Sullivan, ; Silveira, Graupmann, Agthe et al ., ; Taylor, ; Yen & Lin, ).…”