The effects of location, experiences with the civil disturbances and religion on death anxiety and manifest anxiety in a sample of Northern Ireland university students

Abstract

A total of 315 Northern Ireland university students were compared to 302 Republic of Ireland university students in terms of death anxiety, manifest anxiety, and perception of dangerousness of aspects of their environment and attitudes toward the civil disturbances in Northern Ireland. Also using these variables in the Northern Ireland sample, Protestants were compared to Catholics, those having had experiences with the disturbances were compared to those not having had such experiences, and those living in nominally dangerous areas of Belfast were compared to those living in nominally safer areas of Belfast. Students living in Northern Ireland had higher death anxiety and stronger fears than students living in the Republic. Those having had experiences with the civil violence had higher manifest anxiety and stronger fears than those not having has such experiences. Persons living in safe environments thought the disturbances to be more serious than those living in more dangerous environments, a result which is discussed in terms of the media and cognitive dissonance. Finally, an argument is made that the influence of religious denomination is an overemphasized variable in the understanding of the civil disturbances.