Death Anxiety of Students and Teachers of High Schools in the Region of Thessaly, Greece
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57125/FED.2023.12.25.02Keywords:
anxiety, death, religiosity, self-evaluation, well-beingAbstract
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the five personality factors such as religiosity, well-being and the central mechanism of self-evaluations on the overall performance in death anxiety. At the same time, other individual variables were also taken into account and formulated in order to investigate this specific issue. The relationship between the effect of personality factors to death anxiety was examined. As personality is a complex and multidimensional object, for this reason researchers attempt to create a systematic taxonomy in order to analyse it. The result of this research emerged both from the literature review that follows and from the survey that was conducted on a sample of 235 people (before adulthood students and teachers), between 17-63 years old of the region of Thessaly. The method of probability sampling and a specifically simple random sampling was used. The questionnaire was used for the needs of this quantitative research. Descriptive statistics was used in order to present the demographic data of the research and also to give the trend that arose from the answers to the research questions. Additionally, the methods of inductive statistics were focused on the question in order to rely on the findings of a sample observations. With the help of inductive statistics examination the confidence of the finding was proved. In the descriptive statistic the main characteristics of the individual variables were described. In the presented survey mainly the descriptive statistic was used in order to present the data of research participants. These results were presented schematically. Consequently, no significant differences were found between people's well-being and gender. According to research men were slightly happier than women, however, this was a negligible difference. Despite the above finding, this study significantly contributed to the promotion of the research in the specific field.
References
Abdel-Khalek, A., & Lester, D. (2009). Religiosity and death anxiety: No association in Kuwait. Psychological Reports, 104(3), 770–772. https://doi.org/10.2466/PR0.104.3.770-772
Abood, N. (2019). Big five traits: A critical review. Gadjah Mada International Journal of Business, 21(2), 159-186. https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/INFORMIT.624862395960323
Anglim, J., Horwood, S., Smillie, L. D., Marrero, R. J., & Wood, J. K. (2020). Predicting psychological and subjective well-being from personality: A meta-analysis. Psychological bulletin, 146(4), 279–323. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000226
Anwer, A., Tariq, R., & Afzal, S. (2020). Exploring death anxiety: Differences in gender and age groups. In A. Kamal, S. Masood, R. Hanif, H. Jami, & A. Zubair, Psychosocial explorations of gender in society (pp. 152–157). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Bleidorn, W., Schönbrodt, F., Gebauer, J. E., Rentfrow, P. J., Potter, J., & Gosling, S. D. (2016). To live among like-minded others: Exploring the links between person-city personality fit and self-esteem. Psychological Science, 27(3), 419–427. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797615627133
Bono, J., & Judge, T. (2003). Core self evaluations: A review of the trait and its role in job satisfaction and job performance. European Journal of Personality, 17(1), S5–S18. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.481
Calvo, V., Masaro, C., Fusco, C., Pellicelli, C., Ghedin, S., & Marogna, C. (2023). Eudaimonic well-being of Italian young adults during the covid-19 pandemic: Predictive and mediating roles of fear of death and psychological inflexibility. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(11), Article 5960. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20115960
Cartwright, S., & Cooper, C. L. (2002). ASSET: An organisational stress screening tool — The management guide. RCL Ltd.
Çavuşoĝlu, S., Demirağ, B., Durmaz, Y., & Tutuş, G. (2023). Effects of intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity on value-expressive and social-adjustive attitude functions towards product. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 14(2), 586–606. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIMA-02-2021-0045
Chan, L. C., & Yap, C. C. (2009). Age, gender, and religiosity as related to death anxiety. Sunway Academic Journal, 6, 1-16. http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/62/
Cheong, C. Y., Ha, N. H. L., Tan, L. L. C., & Low, J. A. (2020). Attitudes towards the dying and death anxiety in acute care nurses–can a workshop make any difference? A mixed-methods evaluation. Palliative & Supportive Care, 18(2), 164–169. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951519000531
Cicirelli, V. G. (2002). Fear of death in older adults: Predictions from terror management theory. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 57(4), P358-P366. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/57.4.P358
Conte, H. R., Weiner, M. B., & Plutchik, R. (1982). Measuring death anxiety: conceptual, psychometric, and factor-analytic aspects. Journal of personality and social psychology, 43(4), 775–785. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.43.4.775
De Kock, J. H., Latham, H. A., Leslie, S. J., Grindle, M., Munoz, S. A., Ellis, L. ... O’Malley, C. M. (2021). A rapid review of the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of healthcare workers: Implications for supporting psychological well-being. BMC Public Health, 21(1), Article 104. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-10070-3
Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American Psychologist, 55(1), 34–43. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.34
Diener, E. (2012). New findings and future directions for subjective well-being research. American Psychologist, 67(8), 590–597. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029541
Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological bulletin, 125(2), 276–302. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.125.2.276
Dursun, P., Alyagut, P., & Yılmaz, I. (2022). Meaning in life, psychological hardiness and death anxiety: Individuals with or without generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Current psychology, 41(6), 3299–3317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02695-3
Ellis, L., Wahab, E. A., & Ratnasingan, M. (2013). Religiosity and fear of death: a three‐nation comparison. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 16(2), 179–199. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2011.652606
Erkmen, T., & Esen, E. (2019). The effects of self-esteem and locus of control on self-reported personal reputation. Gurukul Business Review, 15, 12–23. https://www.gurukulbusinessreview.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/2-paper.pdf
Filosa, L., & Alessandri, G. (2023). Dynamics of global and organizational self-esteem at work. Identity, 23(1), 91–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/15283488.2022.2136673
Fortner, B. V., Neimeyer, R. A., & Rybarczyk, B. (2000). Correlates of death anxiety in older adults: A comprehensive review. In A. Tomer (Ed.), Death attitudes and the older adult: Theories, concepts, and applications (pp. 95–108). Routledge.
Guo, Q., Zheng, W., Shen, J., Huang, T., & Ma, K. (2022). Social trust more strongly associated with well-being in individualistic societies. Personality and Individual Differences, 188, Article 111451. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111451
Hardy, S. A., Nelson, J. M., Moore, J. P., & King, P. E. (2019). Processes of religious and spiritual influence in adolescence: A systematic review of 30 years of research. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 29(2), 254–275. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12486
Iverach, L., Menzies, R. G., & Menzies, R. E. (2014). Death anxiety and its role in psychopathology: Reviewing the status of a transdiagnostic construct. Clinical Psychology Review, 34(7), 580–593. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2014.09.002
Jong, J., Halberstadt, J., Bluemke, M., Kavanagh, C., & Jackson, C. (2019). Death anxiety, exposure to death, mortuary preferences, and religiosity in five countries. Scientific Data, 6(1), Article 154. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-019-0163-x
Judge, T. A., Bono, J. E., Erez, A. and Locke, E. A. (2005). Core self-evaluations and job and life satisfaction: The role of self-concordance and goal attainment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 257–268. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.2.257
Judge, T. A., Erez, A., Bono, J. E., & Thoresen, C. J. (2002). Are measures of self-esteem, neuroticism, locus of control, and generalized self-efficacy indicators of a common core construct?. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(3), 693–710. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.83.3.693
Kamushadze, T., Martskvishvili, K., Mestvirishvili, M., & Odilavadze, M. (2021). Does perfectionism lead to well-being? The role of flow and personality traits. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 17(2), 43–57. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.1987
Koscielniak, M., Bojanowska, A., & Gasiorowska, A. (2022). Religiosity decline in Europe: Age, generation, and the mediating role of shifting human values. Journal of Religion and Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-022-01670-x
Lucas, R. E., & Diener, E. (2009). Personality and subjective well-being. In E. Diener (Ed.), The science of well-being: The collected works of Ed Diener. Social indicators research series (vol. 37, pp. 75-102). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2350-6_4
Malik, S., Wells, A., & Wittkowski, A. (2015). Emotion regulation as a mediator in the relationship between attachment and depressive symptomatology: A systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 172, 428–444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2014.10.007
McNamara, S. (2000). Stress in young people: What's new and what to do. A&C Black.
Megawati, P., Lestari, S., & Lestari, R. (2019). Gratitude training to improve subjective well-being among adolescents living in orphanages. Humanitas Indonesian Psychological Journal, 16(1), 13–22.
Muris, P. (2007). Normal and abnormal fear and anxiety in children and adolescents. Elsevier.
Neimeyer, R. A., & Van Brunt, D. (2018). Death anxiety. In H. Wass & R. A. Neimeyer (Eds.), Dying: Facing the facts (pp. 49–88). Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315800806
Neimeyer, R. A., Wittkowski, J., & Moser, R. P. (2004). Psychological research on death attitudes: An overview and evaluation. Death Studies, 28(4), 309–340. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481180490432324
O’Brien, E. J., Bartoletti, M., Leitzel, J. D., & O’Brien, J. P. (2006). Global self-esteem: Divergent and convergent validity issues. In M. H. Kernis (Ed.), Self-esteem issues and answers: A sourcebook of current perspectives (pp. 26–35). Psychology Press.
Özgüç, S., Kaplan Serin, E., & Tanriverdi, D. (2021). Death anxiety associated with coronavirus (COVID-19) disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis. OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying. https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228211050503
Pandya, A.-K., & Kathuria, T. (2021). Death anxiety, religiosity and culture: Implications for therapeutic process and future research. Religions, 12(1), 61. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12010061
Pradhan, M., Chettri, A., & Maheshwari, S. (2022). Fear of death in the shadow of COVID-19: The mediating role of perceived stress in the relationship between neuroticism and death anxiety. Death Studies, 46(5), 1106–1110. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2020.1833384
Pyszkowska, A., & Rönnlund, M. (2021). Psychological flexibility and self-compassion as predictors of well-being: Mediating role of a balanced time perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Фкешсду671746. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.671746
Saleem, T., & Saleem, S. (2020). Religiosity and death anxiety: A study of Muslim dars attendees. Journal of religion and health, 59, 309–317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00783-0
Shaver, P. R., & Mikulincer, M. (2007). Adult attachment strategies and the regulation of emotion. In J. J. Gross (Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation (pp. 446–465). Guilford Press.
Soleimani, M. A., Bahrami, N., Allen, K. A., & Alimoradi, Z. (2020). Death anxiety in patients with cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 48, Article 101803. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejon.2020.101803
Spitzenstätter, D., & Schnell, T. (2022). The existential dimension of the pandemic: Death attitudes, personal worldview, and coronavirus anxiety. Death studies, 46(5), 1031–1041. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2020.1848944
Stoeber, J., Lalova, A. V., & Lumley, E. J. (2020). Perfectionism, (self-)compassion, and subjective well-being: A mediation model. Personality and Individual Differences, 154, Article 109708. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.109708
Testoni, I., Ronconi, L., Cupit, I. N., Nodari, E., Bormolini, G., Ghinassi, A. … Zamperini, A. (2019). The effect of death education on fear of death amongst Italian adolescents: A nonrandomized controlled study. Death studies, 44(3), 179–188. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2018.1528056
Torres, É. P. (2023). Human extinction: A history of the science and ethics of annihilation (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003246251
Tsaousis, I., & Georgiades, S. (2009). Development and psychometric properties of the Greek personality adjective checklist (GPAC). European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 25(3), 164–174. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759.25.3.164
Tsaousis, I., & Kerpelis, P. (2004). The traits personality questionnaire 5 (TPQue5). European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 20(3), 180–191. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759.20.3.180
Tsaousis, I., Nikolaou, I., Serdaris, N., & Judge, T. A. (2007). Do the core self-evaluations moderate the relationship between subjective well-being and physical and psychological health?. Personality and individual differences, 42(8), 1441–1452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.10.025
Villani, D., Sorgente, A., Iannello, P., & Antonietti, A. (2019). The role of spirituality and religiosity in subjective well-being of individuals with different religious status. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 1525. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01525
Waugh, C. (2023). Understanding the role of positive emotions in wellbeing through psychological, biological, sociocultural, and environmental lenses. In E. Rieger, R. Costanza, I. Kubiszewski, & P. Dugdale (Eds.), Toward an integrated science of wellbeing (pp. 49–71). Oxford University Press.
Wittkowski, J. (2016). Coping and attitudes toward dying and death in German adults. OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying, 72(4), 316–339. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222815575283
Wittkowski, J. (1988). Relationships between religiosity and attitudes towards death and dying in a middle-aged sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 9(2), 307–312. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(88)90092-X
Wong, L. P., Tan, S. L., Alias, H., Sia, T. E., & Saw, A. (2023). Longitudinal follow-up of death anxiety and psychophysical-symptom experience of participants in the silent mentor program. OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying, 88(1), 157–170. https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228211043613
Xu, S., Martinez, L. R., Van Hoof, H., Eljuri, M. I., & Arciniegas, L. (2016). Fluctuating emotions: relating emotional variability and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 46(11), 617–626. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12390
Yan, X., Yang, K., Su, J., Luo, Z., & Wen, Z. (2018). Mediating role of emotional intelligence on the associations between core self-evaluations and job satisfaction, work engagement as indices of work-related well-being. Current Psychology, 37(3), 552–558. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-016-9531-2
Ypofanti, M., Zisi, V., Zourbanos, N., Mouchtouri, B., Tzanne, P., Theodorakis, Y., & Lyrakos, G. (2015). Psychometric properties of the international personality item pool big-five personality questionnaire for the Greek population. Health psychology research, 3(2), 41–47. https://doi.org/10.4081/hpr.2015.2206
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 authors

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
