Religiosity and Attitude in the Face of Death in Brazilian Elderly

Abstract

This chapter investigated possible links between religious motivations, attitudes, and coping in the face of death in Brazil. The participants included 478 people aged between 41 and 100 years, most of them women (77.82%). It employed the religious orientation scale (31 items), religious coping scale (33 items), and scale of attitudes in the face of death (46 items). Data were analyzed by means Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (Pearson), analysis of variance (ANOVA), exploratory factor analysis and internal consistency analysis (Cronbach's alpha). The overall survey results are presented in two large blocks. The first describes the correlations between the factors of religious coping, religious orientation, and attitudes in the face of death. The second presents the relationship between elderly's socio-biographical characteristics (age, income, education, gender, religion, and marital status), guidance and religious coping factors, and attitudes in the face of death. Finally, the authors discuss the results and their implications for the elderly.