How Gender, Majors, Religion and Mental Health Affect the Justified Death Attitude?

Abstract

Background: Death penalty and euthanasia are disputed practices in the world. However, they are considered "justified" by their proponents. We newly developed a scale for assessment of the attitude toward justified death, which determines "hot cognition" using a number of scenarios. Objectives: This study aimed at assessing the effects of the major demographic items including gender, major, religion, and mental health on the justified death attitude. Methods: A total of 481 participants including 419 university students and 62 seminarians participated in the study in Tehran, Iran. The Persian versions of the justified death attitude scale and the general health questionnaire-12 were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using the multivariate analysis of variance. Results: Capital punishment was suggested more frequently for rape and drug trafficking and less frequently for murder, and infrequently for adultery. Men and religious subjects showed a more positive attitude toward execution. Furthermore, most of the subjects did not agree with euthanasia; surprisingly, active euthanasia was more acceptable than passive euthanasia. Finally, death penalty and euthanasia did not show an association with mental health. Conclusions: Individual characteristics like gender, major, and religiosity could significantly affect the attitude of people toward justified death. Further studies including neuropsychological methods are suggested.

Comparison of attitude of nurses and nursing students toward euthanasia

“…Although, most studies suggested that gender is an effective factor in the attitude toward euthanasia 12,13,17 and male participants had a more positive attitude toward euthanasia. 12,13,32 In the present study, there was no statistically significant relationship between work experience of nurses and their attitude toward euthanasia. Naseh et al 3 reported no significant relationship between attitude toward euthanasia and nurses' work experience.…”

“…14 Religious beliefs are the most important predictor of attitude toward euthanasia, and religious people have a more negative attitude toward euthanasia. [2][3][4]17,32 In the present study, in order to study the role of religion more accurately, it could be helpful to measure the level of religiosity of nurses.…”