Religiosity and the effect on End of Life Feelings

8/9/2019 Religiosity and the effect on End of Life Feelings

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Tatiana Herold, Elizabeth Ng Mayberry, Chelsie Reed,

Adam Reusch, Vicki Sokolowski, Marna TaylorEnd-of-Life Issues

Spring 2010


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` Why this topic?

` Research derived from peer reviewed journals.


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` Moderately religious people fear death

` Who is studied?

` Death anxiety and age

` Religious belief vs. Religious behavior


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` High religiosity will have less death anxiety.

` Low religiosity will have less anxiety.

` People with high religiosity will have a confirmed

idea of a life after death.


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` Study approved by Ithaca College HumanSubjects Review Committee

`

Survey (n=102) of Ithaca College students

` Methods of analysis:

Qualitative Content Analysis Directed content analysis

Quantitative Content Analysis Pearson correlation

Independent sample t-test


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` Survey Instruments Demographics

x Ithaca College Students18-22 years old

x Religious preference

x Religious affiliation

x Religious affiliation: Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewish

x No religious affiliation: none, Agnostic, Atheist

The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness TherapySpiritualWell-Being Scale (Peterman, Fitchett, Brady &

Hernandez, 2002)


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` Results suggest that there are no significant

relationships between spirituality and/or religiosity

and death anxiety.


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` Does a belief in afterlife ease death anxiety? The word death to me hits me differently. I get anxious

because I visualize aging/wrinkles/nursing home.

However, once I think about it, I get calm because of my

religious affiliations. Ill be able to rejoin everyone in

Heaven eventually.

` Perplexed about deathUse of the words uncertain, confused, mixed, curious, ornervous when talking about death


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When you hear the word death how does it make youfeel?

` Examples of fear/anxiety towards death of self:

It to a point scares me because in all honesty I am not readyto die.

I am definitely scared to die.

I hate the fact that everything just ends and I am no longer

a participant in everyday activity. Truthfully, death scares meso much.

It makes me feel uncertain about the future and that I donthave control.


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` Examples of fear/anxiety towards death of others:

I cant imagine it happening to anyone close to me.

It makes me feel really sad. I could not imagine living withoutthe important people in my life.

the thing that affects me is how someone died and the factof having to live without someone.

The word death makes me think of losing someone. It makesme think of sadness and the fact that whoever has died willnever be around anymore.


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` Responses directly referring to fear or anxiety towardsthemselves dying:

Protestant: 1/12 (8.3 %) Catholic: 0/37 (0 %) J

ewish: 1/10 (10.0 %) Agnostic: 1/15 (6.7 %) Atheist: 1/5 (20.0 %)

` Responses directly referring to fear or anxiety towards otherpeople dying:

Protestant: 5/24 (20.8 %) Catholic: 5/37 (13.5 %) Jewish: 1/5 (20.0 %) Agnostic: 0/15 (0 %) Atheist: 0/5 (0 %)


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` Findings do not prove nor eliminate the possibility

of a connection between religiosity/spirituality and

death anxiety.

` Findings have limited practical applications;

however, the methodology and subsequent results

yield questions which could guide future research.

Significance of age as independent variable.Latitudinal vs. Longitudinal Study


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Religiosity and the effect on End of Life Feelings

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