THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RELIGIOUS ORIENTATION AND THE PERSONAL DEATH ATTITUDES OF ELDERLY CHRISTIANS (ANXIETY, SENIOR CITIZENS, FEAR).
Item
-
Title
-
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RELIGIOUS ORIENTATION AND THE PERSONAL DEATH ATTITUDES OF ELDERLY CHRISTIANS (ANXIETY, SENIOR CITIZENS, FEAR).
-
Identifier
-
AAI8515672
-
identifier
-
8515672
-
Creator
-
WILLIAMS, JACQUELINE CECILE.
-
Contributor
-
Morton Bard
-
Date
-
1985
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Psychology, Social
-
Abstract
-
This study focused on the relationship between religious orientation and the personal death concerns of 39 elderly church members from three denominations, Catholic, Baptist and Presbyterian. In this exploratory study, religious orientation was assessed using modifications of the Allport-Ross intrinsic-extrinsic religious orientation subscales (1967) and Spilka and associates' committed-consensual scales (1976). The study's interview questions focused on respondents' personal death concerns as they pertained to anxiety regarding the state of death, the process of dying and views of the afterlife. Other factors were also examined such as the influence of denominational affiliation and views regarding the fate of the corpse.;The major hypotheses focused on assessing differences between respondents with an intrinsic-committed versus an extrinsic-consensual orientation. Extrinsic-consensual respondents were expected to show greater death anxiety but no difference in dying process concerns. This latter concern would be the most prominent for all respondents. It was hypothesized that more Presbyterians would be extrinsic-consensuals.;Statistical analyses revealed the following major findings: (1) respondents with a high extrinsic-consensual orientation showed no greater personal death anxiety or concern over the dying process than respondents lower in this orientation. (2) the majority of respondents, irrespective of religious orientation, expressed few death-related concerns. Of the concerns expressed, those related to the act of dying evoked the greatest concern (e.g., pain, burden). (3) the extrinsic-consensual orientation did not significantly interact with respondents' church membership. Futhermore, church affiliation did not significantly affect the degree of death anxiety expressed nor influence the concern regarding the dying process.;Explanations for these results are discussed with respect to the interpretation of the religious orientation constructs and experience of death and religion for the religiously active elderly. The influence of respondents' age and education on the study's findings were also examined.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
-
Program
-
Psychology
