A comparison between personality factors and reported fear of death.

Abstract

Previous research projects have studied the relationship between the fear of death and numerous demographic variables, but few of the studies cited have dealt with personality factors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship that exists between personality traits and reported levels of death fear. An attempt was made to determine if certain typical personality traits are associated with the conscious expression of death fear. The personality traits and reported levels of death fear of two hundred thirty-three volunteer college students were measured by the Sixteen Personality Factor questionnaire and the Death Anxiety Scale, respectively. Of this total, seventy-five subjects representing the high, moderate, and low fear of death categories were selected for the final analysis of data. The results of a one-way between-subjects analysis of variance demonstrated that five of the sixteen personality variables measured were related to the fear of death at a statistically significant level. Specifically, those subjects who reported a high fear of death were significantly less mature than were those subjects who reported little fear of death. The subjects who reported high levels of death fear were also found to be more dogmatic and jealous than were those who reported little death fear. However, all of the scores for the trait measuring dogmatism reflected average scores. The subjects who reported little fear of death were found to be more concerned about their social reputation than were those subjects who feared death. High death fearing subjects were also found to be more susceptable to depression, impulsiveness, anxiety and concern for their health than were those who reported little fear of death. The final major conclusion drawn for the analysis of data was that both the moderate and the high death fearing individuals tend to be more frustrated than do individuals with little death fear. Thus, the results of this study indicate that there is a relationship between the fear of death and personality traits.