Measurement of the fear of death: a comparative study.

Abstract

This study was conducted in an effort to establish any statistical superiority, of the instruments considered, as a measurement of fear of death and to discover any significant inter-test correlation between these instruments. A series of "repeated measures" chi squares was used to establish testing accuracy. A series of Pearson r's were used to discover inter-test correlation. The major conclusions drawn were that all instruments considered were significantly accurate and high inter-test correlation was present. The subjects consisted of one hundred and sixty-one university students between the ages of nineteen and fifty, who were enrolled in Introductory Psychology. All subjects were volunteers. The subjects were initially administered a form indicating their willingness to visit a funeral horne. From this data, each subject's level of death anxiety was established. At a later time, these subjects were administered the Templer DAS, the Boyar FaDS, the Nelson and Nelson DFS, and a single statement inquiry to be responded to on a seven-point Likert-type scale. The results were compared to the operationally defined levels of high and low death anxiety previously determined.