Correlates of Death Anxiety: Self Esteem, Neuroticism and Purpose of Life
Contrary to expectations, a negative correlation exists between self esteem and death anxiety. It is thought that this finding may be influenced by two main factors, which when controlled for would yield the expected result of a positive relationship. One factor is neuroticism which is related to fear of death and low self esteem, and which contributes to the negative relationship between the two variables. The second factor is based on existential thought which states that those who have accepted their death and, therefore, their uniqueness will have a high sense of purpose resulting in the negative relationship between self esteem and death anxiety. This research sought to discover what type of relationship would exist between death anxiety and self esteem, when neuroticism and purpose in life were held constant. A positive relationship was found between self esteem and death anxiety, however; the probability level was above .05. Also found was that when only neuroticism was held constant, both a positive and statistically significant relationship existed between self esteem and death anxiety. The research instrument used was a questionnaire containing four scales: Death Anxiety, Neuroticism, Purpose in Life and Self Esteem.
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