Attitudes toward Death, Anxiety, and Social Desirability

1978 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis S. Dickstein

Thirty-four male and thirty-four female undergraduates completed four scales of attitudes toward death including the Death Concern Scale, the Templer Death Anxiety Scale, the Tolor and Reznikoff Death Anxiety Scale, and the Fear of Death and Dying Scale, as well as the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. The four death scales showed moderate commonality reflecting, on average, 35 per cent common variance for both males and females. For females, a substantial portion of this commonality could be attributed to correlations between the death scales and trait anxiety whereas for males there was stronger evidence for the discriminant validity of the death scales. Three of the four death scales showed significant negative correlations with social desirability. There were no significant sex differences on the death scales.

1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas O. Martin

Registered nurses ( n = 210) from Canadian public general hospitals were administered Templer's Death Anxiety Scale and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Responses on the Death Anxiety Scale were subjected to a principal-axes factor analysis, from which were extracted five factors. In the order of their relative prominence for the sample of nurses, the identified factors were: 1) “death anxiety denial,” 2) “general death anxiety,” 3) “fearful anticipation of death,” 4) “physical death fear,” and 5) “fear of catastrophic death.” Correlation analyses indicated a statistically significant inverse relationship between the variable of social desirability and “death anxiety denial”; however, no other statistically significant relationships were found to exist between the social desirability variable and the remaining four Death Anxiety Scale factors. The inverse relationship between a particular aspect of death anxiety and the response set of social desirability for nurses in this study was discussed in light of corroborative findings by other investigators, as well as in terms of its implications for further studies of death anxiety among health professionals.


2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 277-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed M. Abdel-Khalek

Three samples of male and female undergraduates were recruited from Egypt ( N=208), Kuwait ( N=215), and Lebanon ( N=228). The Death Anxiety Scale, Death Depression Scale, Trait Anxiety Scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Beck Depression Inventory were administered to participants in small group sessions in each country. Alpha reliabilities of the four scales in the three nations ranged from almost satisfactory to high levels. In death anxiety, Lebanese subjects had significantly the lowest mean score. As for death depression in males, Kuwaitis attained the highest mean score, while the Lebanese had the lowest. In females, Egyptians and Kuwaitis had the highest mean death depression scores, while the Lebanese attained the lowest. Regarding the trait anxiety, female Egyptians had the highest mean score, while the Lebanese attained the lowest. The differences between the mean scores of the three nations in the Beck Depression Inventory were not statistically significant. By and large, the gender differences were significant denoting the higher mean scores of females than their male counterparts.


2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Heß ◽  
Melanie Simon

Wir untersuchten den Einfluss exekutiver Funktionen und eines dispositionellen repressiven Copingstils auf die Überschätzung von Gedächtnisleistungen bei 80 Patienten mit unterschiedlichen ZNS-Erkrankungen. Die neuropsychologische Untersuchung umfasste u. a. einen Fragebogen zum Alltagsgedächtnis (MCQ), einen verbalen Gedächtnistest (VLMT) und Verfahren zur Erfassung exekutiver Funktionen (mWCST, TMT-B, Wortflüssigkeit). Die repressive Coping-Disposition wurde gemessen mit dem State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) in Kombination mit der Marlow-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Patienten mit klinisch relevanten Gedächtnisdefiziten, aber geringem Ausmaß subjektiver Beschwerden, zeigten in allen Parametern des mWCST signifikant schlechtere Leistungen. Dagegen fanden wir in dieser Gruppe keine Hinweise auf einen ausgeprägteren repressiven Copingstil. Das Überschätzen eigener Gedächtnisleistungen bei neurologischen Patienten scheint in erster Linie mit exekutiven Funktionen und nicht mit repressivem Coping-Verhalten in Zusammenhang zu stehen.


2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 402-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Zinczuk-Zielazna ◽  
Monika Obrębska

Abstract A study was carried out involving persons representing high-anxious, low-anxious and repressor types according to the classification of Weinberger, Davidson & Schwartz (1979), selected using the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale and the trait anxiety scale of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. In seeking indicators of anxiety in repressors and high-anxious groups, the authors decided to analyse the level of dogmatism observed in utterance texts. The research was intended to determine whether styles of coping with threatening stimuli condition the level of dogmatism, which was regarded as a cognitive defence mechanism against anxiety. The method of formal analysis of texts (speeches given by the participants in a situation of social exposure) was used to identify their level of dogmatism, measured using the Dogmatism Quotient developed by Ertel. The highest value of the Dogmatism Quotient was recorded for repressors, and the lowest for the low-anxious subjects; a similar pattern was also observed for certain particular dimensions of dogmatism. Statistically significant differences in the level of dogmatism were found between the repressor and lowanxious groups and between the high-anxious and low-anxious groups. The study confirmed the previously discovered pattern whereby repressors exhibit more similarities to high-anxious than to low-anxious persons.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey M. Shain ◽  
Maryland Pao ◽  
Mary V. Tipton ◽  
Sima Zadeh Bedoya ◽  
Sun J. Kang ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Vieco-García ◽  
Amanda López-Picado ◽  
Manuel Fuentes ◽  
Laura Francisco-González ◽  
Belén Joyanes ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Anxiety in children triggered by a scheduled surgical intervention is a major issue due to its frequency and consequences. Preoperative anxiety is associated with increased patient fear and agitation on anesthetic induction. The aim of this study is to compare three preoperative anxiety scales for children undergoing elective outpatient surgery, and to correlate each of these tools with the degree of patient compliance on induction, as assessed by the Induction Compliance Checklist (ICC). Methods An observational prospective study was performed on a cohort of children with ages between 2 and 16 years old, scheduled for outpatient surgery. Anxiety was assessed upon arrival to the hospital (M0), during transfer to the surgical unit (M1), and in the operating room during anesthetic induction (M2). Anxiety in the parents (measured with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, STAI) and in the children (measured with the Spence Anxiety Scale-Pediatric, SCAS-P, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Children, STAIC, and Modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale, m-YPAS) was assessed. Compliance with anesthetic induction was assessed with ICC. Results The study included 76 patients (72.4% male, median age 7.9 years). Anxiety scores (m-YPAS) increased as the moment of surgery approached, being greater at the entrance to the surgical unit (M0 = 26.1 ± 9.5; M1 = 31.8 ± 18.1; M2 = 33.5 ± 21.1). A strong correlation was found between ICC scale and m-YPAS at M1 (0.738) and M2 timepoints (0.794), but not with the rest of scales at M0. Conclusions Standard anxiety assessment scales do not predict the quality of anesthetic induction. m-YPAS scale can detect increasing anxiety in children as they approach the surgical procedure and this correlates strongly with a worse anesthetic induction, defined by higher score on ICC scale.


2001 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 222-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Stöber

Summary: Four studies are presented investigating the convergent validity, discriminant validity, and relationship with age of the Social Desirability Scale-17 (SDS-17). As to convergent validity, SDS-17 scores showed correlations between .52 and .85 with other measures of social desirability (Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Lie Scale, Sets of Four Scale, Marlowe-Crowne Scale). Moreover, scores were highly sensitive to social-desirability-provoking instructions (job-application instruction). Finally, with respect to the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding, SDS-17 scores showed a unique correlation with impression management, but not with self-deception. As to discriminant validity, SDS-17 scores showed nonsignificant correlations with neuroticism, extraversion, psychoticism, and openness to experience, whereas there was some overlap with agreeableness and conscientiousness. With respect to relationship with age, the SDS-17 was administered in a sample stratified for age, with age ranging from 18 to 89 years. In all but the oldest age group, the SDS-17 showed substantial correlations with the Marlowe-Crowne Scale. The influence of age (cohort) on mean scores, however, was significantly smaller for the SDS-17 than for the Marlowe-Crowne Scale. In sum, results indicate that the SDS-17 is a reliable and valid measure of social desirability, suitable for adults of 18 to 80 years of age.


2004 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leandro Yoshinobu Kiyohara ◽  
Lilian Kakumu Kayano ◽  
Lorena Marçalo Oliveira ◽  
Marina Uemori Yamamoto ◽  
Marco Makoto Inagaki ◽  
...  

PURPOSE: Patients preparing to undergo surgery should not suffer needless anxiety. This study aimed to evaluate anxiety levels on the day before surgery as related to the information known by the patient regarding the diagnosis, surgical procedure, or anesthesia. METHOD: Patients reported their knowledge of diagnosis, surgery, and anesthesia. The Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was used to measure patient anxiety levels. RESULTS: One hundred and forty-nine patients were selected, and 82 females and 38 males were interviewed. Twenty-nine patients were excluded due to illiteracy. The state-anxiety levels were alike for males and females (36.10 ± 11.94 vs. 37.61 ± 8.76) (mean ± SD). Trait-anxiety levels were higher for women (42.55 ± 10.39 vs. 38.08 ± 12.25, P = 0.041). Patient education level did not influence the state-anxiety level but was inversely related to the trait-anxiety level. Knowledge of the diagnosis was clear for 91.7% of patients, of the surgery for 75.0%, and of anesthesia for 37.5%. Unfamiliarity with the surgical procedure raised state-anxiety levels (P = 0.021). A lower state-anxiety level was found among patients who did not know the diagnosis but knew about the surgery (P = 0.038). CONCLUSIONS: Increased knowledge of patients regarding the surgery they are about to undergo may reduce their state-anxiety levels.


1980 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 561-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Var Go

The present study investigated the relationship between the Templer Death Anxiety Scale and the four subscales of the Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale. Product-moment correlations computed between 72 undergraduate nursing students' scores on these measures indicated that the two death anxiety scales were significantly correlated. Moreover, the Templer Death Anxiety Scale was most highly correlated with those Collett-Lester subscales which purportedly measure fears of one's own death and dying ( rs = .61, .51). The Templer scale appears to be not only a measure of death anxiety in general but also one of fears concerning personal demise in particular. Significant correlations between scales support their concurrent validity.


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