Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of death attitudes, specifically death acceptance and death fear, and how these attitudes relate to dealing with a life-threatening illness, feelings of purpose and meaning in life, and global aspects of personality. Historical antecedents to the psychological study of death as well as the extant literature and research related to death are outlined, including the influence of existential and humanistic philosophy on psychology's approach toward death in general, and counseling psychology's approach in particular. ;Research participants were 72 individuals, 34 who were dealing with a life-threatening illness and 38 who were physically healthy. Each completed self-report measures of death attitudes, purpose and meaning, and personality. ;The study did support the notion that individuals who are facing a life-threatening illness report less fear of death than their physically healthy counterparts. However, the study did not find any difference between the two groups in regard to death acceptance attitudes, suggesting that the relationship between fear and acceptance is more complex than it first appears. ;The study did marginally support the relationship between purpose and meaning in life and death acceptance. Although a significant relationship was found, the correlation between these two variables was only .28, raising questions as to the meaningfulness of the relationship. Finally, the notion that individuals who were dealing with a life-threatening illness would find more purpose and meaning in their lives was not supported. ;Findings regarding the relationship between religiosity and death acceptance are discussed, as well as differences between the two groups in regard to personality variables. Suggestions for future research and implications for clinical practice are also discussed