Abstract
BackgroundDeath anxiety is a common phenomenon in all societies. Older adults may be more prone to death anxiety than their younger counterparts; however, death anxiety among older adults is not well understood. This study explores the relationship between meaning in life, self-esteem, and death anxiety in senior citizens in China.MethodsA total of 283 older adults participated in this study; data were collected via the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Death Anxiety Scale.ResultsResults show that the dimensions of meaning in life, presence of meaning (r = − 0.43, p < 0.01), search for meaning (r = − 0.31, p < 0.01), and self-esteem (r = − 0.54, p < 0.01) were each negatively correlated with death anxiety. Regression analysis reveals that meaning in life significantly predicted self-esteem and death anxiety (F = 45.70, p < 0.01; R2 = 0.33). Path analysis indicated that self-esteem either completely or partially mediated the effects of meaning in life on death anxiety in older adults.ConclusionsOverall, meaning in life appears to be significantly correlated with death anxiety in older adults, and self-esteem can mediate this effect.
Highlights
Death anxiety is a common phenomenon in all societies, older adults may be more prone to anxiety and fear when encountering death-related events compared to their younger counterparts [6]
In line with Terror management theory (TMT), the current study aims to verify the mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between meaning in life and death anxiety based on the following hypothesis: meaning in life can influence self-esteem and reduce death anxiety through its mediating effect on self-esteem
All confidence intervals did not include 0, indicating that all paths in the mediated model were significant. These results reveal the mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between meaning in life and death anxiety, supporting the hypothesis of the current study
Summary
Death anxiety is a common phenomenon in all societies. Older adults may be more prone to death anxiety than their younger counterparts; death anxiety among older adults is not well understood. Death anxiety is a common phenomenon in all societies, older adults may be more prone to anxiety and fear when encountering death-related events compared to their younger counterparts [6]. Four aspects tend to be common across these models: death is conceptualized as a radical transformation and separation, annihilation of the self, a threat to the realization of life’s basic goals and propensities, and a threat to the meaningfulness of life [10]. Such diversity in theoretical approaches has led to various perspectives on death anxiety; these theories are accompanied by drawbacks. Florian and Mikulincer pointed out that threats to death anxiety can be replaced by two categories depending on the chosen theory: either the meaningfulness of life or self-realization
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