Fear of death and femininity.

Abstract

It is commonly reported that females have a higher fear of death than males ( 9 ) , although this higher level may hold only for some specific fears ( 5 ) . The present study was designed to determine whether, within each sex, fear of death was related to femininity. Twenty female and 35 male undergraduates at Stockton State College were administered two Fear of Death Scales (1 , 4 ) which assess six different types of fear about death. Four weeks later they were administered the Femininity Scale of Gough ( 3 ) . For females, scores on the Femininity Scale correlated only with fear of others dying ( 7 = .34, p < ,025; I-tailed). For males, Femininity Scale scores were correlated with fear of own death ( r = .34, 1-tailed; p < ,025) and fear of others dying ( r = .33, 1-tailed; p < ,025) . N o other correlations were statistically significant. The second part of this study was to determine whether positive correlations with femininity would also be found with Templer's Death Anxiety Scale ( 8 ) and to determine whether such correlations could be attributed to both femininity and death anxiety being positively associated with general anxiety. Such a possibility seemed conceivable since the Death Anxiety Scale correlates positively with indices of general anxiety and because females tend to obtain higher scores on general anxiety scales ( 7 ) . Ss were 72 female and 29 male undergraduates at Hopkinsville Community College who were administered the Death Anxiety Scale, the Femininity Scale, and the Costello and Comrey ( 2 ) Anxiety Scale. Death Anxiety-Femininity correlations were .22 ( p < .05) for the females and .23 for males. Death Anxiety-Anxiety correlations were .25 ( p < .025) for the females and .42 ( p < .025) for the males. Anxiety-Femininity correlations were .58 ( p < ,005) for the females and .04 for the males. For the females, the partial correlation between the Death Anxiety Scale and the Femininity Scale w ~ t h the effect of the Costello and Comrey measure of general anxiety removed was .09, ~uggcsung that most of the death anxiety-femininity correlation is a function of general aoxrery. However, for the males the partial correlation was .24, basically unchanged from the unadjusted correlation. In conclusion, the present research appears to demonstrate a positive, though weak, association between femininity and fear of death. Further support for such a relationship is the small significant correlation of -.26 berween the Death Anxiety Scale and h e MMPI Masculinity-femininity Scale T score for females reported by Lucas ( 6 ) . I t appears that the positive association between femininity and fear of death may be a function, at least in part and for females, of the positive association of these two variables with general anxiety.