Level of Belief in Afterlife and Four Categories of Fear of Death in a Sample of 60+-Year-Olds

Abstract

Studies investigating a correlation between fear of death and belief in afterlife have reported equivocal results (Martin & Wrightsman, 1964; Lester, 1967). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between a non-religious belief in afterlife measure and four categories of fear of death in a sample of 60+ year olds. Subjects were contacted through senior centers, social service agencies, and private contact. The sample included 30 females and 10 males, ranging in age from 60 to 82 yr. (M.,. = 67.5) and coming from a middle to upp-r socioeconomic level. Subjects completed the Belief in Afterlife Scale (Osarchuk & Tatz, 1973) and the Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale (Collett & Lester, 1969), which consists of four subscales: Fear of Death of Self, Fear of Death of Others, Fear of Dying of Self, and Fear of Dying of Others. Product-moment correlations were computed between scores on the Belief in Afterlife Scale and each of the four subscales of the Collect-Lester Fear of Death Scale. No significant correlation was found between level of belief in afterlife and Fear of Death of Self (r = -.08), Fear of Dying of Self (r = .15), or Fear of Dying of Others (r = .05). A significant positive correlation was found between level of belief in afterlife and Fear of Death of Others (r = .44, p < .01). The Fear of Death of Others, of all of the four subscales of the Collett-Lester scale, represents the most concrete manifestation of death. An individual cannot actually experience his or her own death but can experience the loss of another. The older mcmbers of our society, the group sampled here, experience proportionately more deaths of others than do younger age groups. To interpret from the results of this study that the more an individual fears the loss of others the more likely that person is to formulate a higher level of belief in life after death would lend support to Feifel's (1959) belief thar many individuals who strongly fear death may resort to religious values to cope with this fear. This interpretation could gain support from the study by Osarchuk and Tatz (1973), in which viewing a movie apparently affected one group of subjects such that they elevated their reported Belief in Afterlife Scale scores significantly. The death of another (especially a significant other) can be considered as a personal death-threat to an individual. Replications using larger samples and diverse age groups would help clarify these results.