Citation

Gavrilova TA. Psikhologicheskii Zhurnal 2018; 39(3): 15-28.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018)

DOI

10.7868/S0205959218030029

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The results of the study of sex-age features of the attitude of Russians towards death are presented. The attitude toward death was assessed on the basis of measuring five different attitudes identified by the Canadian psychologist P.T. Wong with colleagues, using the questionnaire DAP-R (Fear of death, Avoidance of the theme of death, Neutral acceptance of death, Approach acceptance of death, Escape acceptance of death). The study was conducted with the participation of 352 people (M = 36.6 years, SD = 19.5, 58.5% of women), divided into four age groups (12-17 years, 18-29 years, 30-59 years, 60-83 years). Sex-age differences in the preference for different attitudes toward death were found. It is shown that, regardless of age, the attitudes for an approach acceptance of death is more pronounced in women than in men. For adolescents, the most common attitude is the escape acceptance of death, and in adults, as their age increases, the neutral acceptance of death begins to predominate. In all age groups, except for the elderly, there was also a mixed attitude towards death, which manifested itself in the form of links between negative attitudes and positive ones. Comparison of the data obtained in the Russian sample with the results of foreign studies conducted in Canada and Hong Kong demonstrated the specific features of Russian culture in attitudes toward death. The findings indicate the need for a broader and more systematic study of attitudes toward death in adolescence in order to study the causes of teen suicides. © 2018 Russian Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Language: ru

Keywords

Anxiety; Sex differences; Age differences; Fear of death; Acceptance of death; Death attitudes