Loss of a person and the mourning that follows it.
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Qurʾān
القرآن6 shownVerses named for this subject by hand come first. The rest are found by the subject’s own Arabic and English senses and are shown as lexical matches, not as anchors anyone has confirmed.
Qur'ān 2:112Arabic sense: حزن | English sense: grieve
بَلَىٰۚ مَنۡ أَسۡلَمَ وَجۡهَهُۥ لِلَّهِ وَهُوَ مُحۡسِنࣱ فَلَهُۥٓ أَجۡرُهُۥ عِندَ رَبِّهِۦ وَلَا خَوۡفٌ عَلَيۡهِمۡ وَلَا هُمۡ يَحۡزَنُونَ
In fact, any who direct themselves wholly to God and do good will have their reward with their Lord: no fear for them, nor will they grieve
Qur'ān 2:262Arabic sense: حزن | English sense: grieve
ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمۡوَٰلَهُمۡ فِي سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ثُمَّ لَا يُتۡبِعُونَ مَآ أَنفَقُواْ مَنࣰّ ا وَلَآ أَذࣰ ى لَّهُمۡ أَجۡرُهُمۡ عِندَ رَبِّهِمۡ وَلَا خَوۡفٌ عَلَيۡهِمۡ وَلَا هُمۡ يَحۡزَنُونَ
Those who spend their wealth in God’s cause, and do not follow their spending with reminders of their benevolence or hurtful words, will have their rewards with their Lord: no fear for them, nor will they grieve
Qur'ān 2:274English sense: grieve | Arabic sense: حزن
ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمۡوَٰلَهُم بِٱلَّيۡلِ وَٱلنَّهَارِ سِرࣰّ ا وَعَلَانِيَةࣰ فَلَهُمۡ أَجۡرُهُمۡ عِندَ رَبِّهِمۡ وَلَا خَوۡفٌ عَلَيۡهِمۡ وَلَا هُمۡ يَحۡزَنُونَ
Those who give, out of their own possessions, by night and by day, in private and in public, will have their reward with their Lord: no fear for them, nor will they grieve
Qur'ān 2:277Arabic sense: حزن | English sense: grieve
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ وَأَقَامُواْ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتَوُاْ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ لَهُمۡ أَجۡرُهُمۡ عِندَ رَبِّهِمۡ وَلَا خَوۡفٌ عَلَيۡهِمۡ وَلَا هُمۡ يَحۡزَنُونَ
Those who believe, do good deeds, keep up the prayer, and pay the prescribed alms will have their reward with their Lord: no fear for them, nor will they grieve
Qur'ān 2:38Arabic sense: حزن | English sense: grieve
قُلۡنَا ٱهۡبِطُواْ مِنۡهَا جَمِيعࣰ اۖ فَإِمَّا يَأۡتِيَنَّكُم مِّنِّي هُدࣰ ى فَمَن تَبِعَ هُدَايَ فَلَا خَوۡفٌ عَلَيۡهِمۡ وَلَا هُمۡ يَحۡزَنُونَ
We said, ‘Get out, all of you! But when guidance comes from Me, as it certainly will, there will be no fear for those who follow My guidance nor will they grieve
Qur'ān 2:62English sense: grieve | Arabic sense: حزن
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَٱلَّذِينَ هَادُواْ وَٱلنَّصَٰرَىٰ وَٱلصَّٰبِـِٔينَ مَنۡ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡيَوۡمِ ٱلۡأٓخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صَٰلِحࣰ ا فَلَهُمۡ أَجۡرُهُمۡ عِندَ رَبِّهِمۡ وَلَا خَوۡفٌ عَلَيۡهِمۡ وَلَا هُمۡ يَحۡزَنُونَ
The [Muslim] believers, the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabians- all those who believe in God and the Last Day and do good- will have their rewards with their Lord. No fear for them, nor will they grieve
Tafsīr
التفسير6 shownCommentary on the verses above, at most two editions per verse.
en-asbab-al-nuzul-by-al-wahidi on 2:112en-asbab-al-nuzul-by-al-wahidicommentary on an ayah this subject surfaced
No, whosoever submits his face to God, doing the beautiful, shall have his wage with his Lord, and no fear shall be upon them, neither shall they grieve. The work is the work of the purifiers, the good fortune the good fortune of the truthful, the con- duct the conduct of the pure, and the hard cash the hard cash in their purse. Today they are on the carpet of service with the light of recognition, tomorrow on the carpet of companionship with the joy of union. Surely We purified them with that which is pure [38:46]. He is saying, “We made them pure and brought them forth pure from the crucible of testing so that they would be worthy for the Presence,” for the Pure Presence gives access only to the pure. “Surely God is goodly and accepts only the goodly.” Nothing is of any use with the Pure Presence save pure activity and pure speech. Then you must become so purified of that pure activity
en-asbab-al-nuzul-by-al-wahidi on 2:262en-asbab-al-nuzul-by-al-wahidicommentary on an ayah this subject surfaced
(Those who spend their wealth for the cause of Allah�) [2:262]. Said al-Kalbi: �This verse was revealed about 'Uthman ibn 'Affan and 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf. As for 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf, he went and gave the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, four thousand silver coins to distribute in charity. 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf said to him: 'I have eight thousand silver coins; I have kept four thousand for me and my family and I loan these four thousands to my Lord'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to him: 'May Allah bless for you that which you have kept and that which you have given'. And as for 'Uthman, may Allah be well pleased with him, he said: 'Upon me is the equipment of anyone who has no equipment for the Battle of Tabuk'. And so he equipped the Muslims with one thousand camels with their hunches and saddle blankets and also gave to
en-asbab-al-nuzul-by-al-wahidi on 2:274en-asbab-al-nuzul-by-al-wahidicommentary on an ayah this subject surfaced
(Those who spend their wealth by night and day, by stealth and openly�) [2:274]. Abu Ibrahim Isma'il ibn Ibrahim al-Nasrabadhi informed us> 'Amr ibn Nujayd> Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Khalil> Hisham ibn 'Ammar> Muhammad ibn Shu'ayb> Ibn Mahdi> Yazid ibn 'Abd Allah> 'Arib> his father> his grandfather> the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, who said: �This verse (Those who spend their wealth by night and day, by stealth and openly, verily their reward is with their Lord) was revealed about the owners of horses�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, also said: �The devils will not bewitch anyone who has in his house a noble horse�. This is also the opinion of Abu Umamah, Abu'l-Darda', Makhul, al-Awza'i and Rabah ibn Zayd. They said: �This refers to those who tie their horses for the sake of Allah, they spend on them by night and day, secretly an
en-asbab-al-nuzul-by-al-wahidi on 2:62en-asbab-al-nuzul-by-al-wahidicommentary on an ayah this subject surfaced
(Lo! Those who believe (in that which is revealed unto thee, Muhammad), and those who are Jews�) [2:62]. Al-Hafiz Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad informed us> �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ja�far the al-Hafiz> Abu Yahya al-Razi> Sahl ibn �Uthman al-�Askari> Yahya ibn Abi Za�idah who said: �Ibn Jurayj said> �Abd Allah ibn Kuthayr> Mujahid who said: �When Salman related to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, the story of the monks, the Prophet told him that they will dwell in hell fire�. Salman said: �The whole earth became gloomy for me, but then this verse was revealed (Lo! Those who believe (in that which is revealed unto thee, Muhammad), and those who are Jews) up to Allah�s saying (and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve), and it was as if a mountain had been lifted away from me� �. Muhammad ibn �Abd al-�Aziz al-Marwazi informed us> Muhammad ibn al-Hus
en-al-jalalayn on 2:38en-al-jalalayncommentary on an ayah this subject surfaced
We said ‘Go down from it from the Garden all together He has repeated this phrase qulnā ihbitū in order to supplement it with yet fa-immā the nūn of the conditional particle in ‘if’ has been assimilated with the extra mā there shall come to you from Me guidance a Book and a prophet and whoever follows My guidance believing in me and performing deeds in obedience of Me no fear shall befall them neither shall they grieve in the Hereafter since they will be admitted into Paradise.
en-tafisr-ibn-kathir on 2:38en-tafisr-ibn-kathircommentary on an ayah this subject surfaced
We said: "Get down all of you from this place (the Paradise), then whenever there comes to you Hudan (guidance) from Me, and whoever follows My guidance, there shall be no fear on them, nor shall they grieve (38)But those who disbelieve and belie Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) ـ such are the dwellers of the Fire. They shall abide therein forever. (39)
Allah stated that when He sent Adam, Hawwa', and Shaytan to earth from Paradise, He warned them that He will reveal Books and send Prophets and Messengers to them, i.e., to their offspring. Abu Al-'Aliyah said, "Al-Huda, refers to the Prophets, Messengers, the clear signs and plain explanation."
فَمَن تَبِعَ هُدَايَ
(And whoever follows My guidance) meaning, whoever accepts what is contained in My Books and what I send the Messengers with,
فَلاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ
(There shall be no fear on them)
Research library
المكتبة البحثية1,047 works heldPeer-reviewed work held with its DOI and abstract, labelled with the study design its publication types report. None of it has been read or assessed, so nothing here may be cited as showing anything. Retracted work is held for the record but never listed; a review that a later version replaced is listed under its replacement and marked.
10.1080/07481187.2025.2454494Death studies (2026)MEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by us; matched on Bereavement, Grief, Attitude to Death, Abortion, Spontaneous, Stillbirth, bereavement Cultural differences on baby loss experiences: A comparison of the US and New Zealand.: Prior research has shown that the death of a baby (whether it be through miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss) can have profound effects on the parents involved. However, research has yet to adequately understand how these effects differ cross-culturally. Our research addresses these issues through a qualitative study of 47 bereaved mothers in the United States and New Zealand-cultures that have differing perspectives on death. Findings reveal that bereaved mothers in each country do not proc
10.1016/s0140-6736(21)02176-0Lancet (London, England) (2022)MEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by us; matched on Bereavement, Grief, Attitude to Death, bereavement, prolonged grief A three-step support strategy for relatives of patients dying in the intensive care unit: a cluster randomised trial.: Background: In relatives of patients dying in intensive care units (ICUs), inadequate team support can increase the prevalence of prolonged grief and other psychological harm. We aimed to evaluate whether a proactive communication and support intervention would improve relatives' outcomes.
Methods: We undertook a prospective, multicentre, cluster randomised controlled trial in 34 ICUs in France, to compare standard care with a physician-driven, nurse-aided, three-step support strategy for famili
10.1542/peds.2020-040386Pediatrics (2021)MEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by us; matched on Bereavement, Grief, Death, bereavement, complicated grief Grief and Bereavement in Fathers After the Death of a Child: A Systematic Review.: Context: The death of a child is devastating, and complicated grief adversely impacts parental physical and psychosocial well-being. Most research currently is centered on bereaved mothers, and the experiences of fathers remains underexplored.
Objective: We systematically reviewed the literature to characterize the grief and bereavement experiences of fathers after the death of a child.
Data sources: We searched Medline, PsycInfo, Embase, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literat
10.1016/j.beth.2020.04.004Behavior therapy (2021)MEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by us; matched on Bereavement, Grief, bereavement, complicated grief, prolonged grief Emotion Regulatory Strategies in Complicated Grief: A Systematic Review.: Prolonged grief disorder, characterized by severe, persistent, and disabling grief, has recently been included in the International Classification of Diseases-11 (ICD-11). Emotional disturbances are central to such complicated grief responses. Accordingly, emotion regulation is assumed critical in the development, persistence, and treatment of complicated grief. Yet, a comprehensive review on this topic is lacking. We conducted a systematic review (PROSPERO: CRD42017076061) searching PsycInfo, W
10.1016/j.jad.2017.01.030Journal of affective disorders (2017)MEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by us; matched on Bereavement, Grief, bereavement, prolonged grief Prevalence of prolonged grief disorder in adult bereavement: A systematic review and meta-analysis.: Background: Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is a bereavement-specific syndrome expected to be included in the forthcoming ICD-11. Defining the prevalence of PGD will have important nosological, clinical, and therapeutic implications. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the prevalence rate of PGD in the adult bereaved population, identify possible moderators, and explore methodological quality of studies in this area.
Methods: A systematic literature search was conduc
10.1016/j.jad.2020.01.034Journal of affective disorders (2020)MEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by us; matched on Bereavement, Grief, bereavement, prolonged grief The prevalence of prolonged grief disorder in bereaved individuals following unnatural losses: Systematic review and meta regression analysis.: Background: Previous research has indicated that one out of ten naturally bereaved individuals develops prolonged grief disorder (PGD). Less is known about the prevalence of PGD following unnatural deaths, such as accidents, disasters, suicides, or homicides. The aim of this study was to compute the pooled prevalence of PGD and to determine possible causes of its varied estimates.
Methods: A literature search was conducted in PsycINFO, Ovid Medline, PILOTS, Embase, Web of Science, and CINAHL. A
Research library, full list
951 to 975 of 1,047Chaplains Working in Palliative Care: Who They Are and What They Do.
Background: Palliative care (PC) programs utilize chaplains to address patients' spiritual care needs; however, there is no comprehensive description of chaplaincy in PC programs nationally.
Objective: To describe chaplains working in PC across the United States, including their integration on the PC team and visit content.
Design: National online survey conducted February-April 2015.
Subjects: We invited participation from hospital-based chaplains belonging to four national professional chaplain associations who spent 15% or more of their working hours with PC teams. Measure(s): We developed a 41-item survey to investigate main outcomes of chaplain demographics, practice information, integration into the PC team, and visit content.
Results: 531 valid responses were received. We report on respondents who were full-time chaplains (n = 382). Almost half were women (46%), and the majority w…
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Gamliel T (2017)MEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by usTranscultural psychiatry1 citations Collective in exile: Utilizing terror management theory to understand women's wailing performance.
Although women's wailing at death rites in various cultures typically amplifies mortality salience, this ritual phenomenon is absent in the research literature on terror management theory (TMT). This study explored Yemenite-Jewish wailing in Israel as an example of how a traditional performance manages death anxiety in a community context. Observations of wailing events and interviews with Yemenite-Jewish wailers and mourners in Israel were analyzed to understand respondents' perceptions of the experience of wailing as well as the anxiety-oriented psychotherapeutic expertise involved. The findings are discussed to propose an alternative outlook on the intersubjective adaptive value of death anxiety. After describing TMT's view on the role of culture in coping with death anxiety, I consider the extent to which Yemenite-Jewish wailing is consistent with the premises of TMT.
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He Dies, He Scores: Evidence That Reminders of Death Motivate Improved Performance in Basketball.
This research applied insights from terror management theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986) to the world of sport. According to TMT, self-esteem buffers against the potential for death anxiety. Because sport allows people to attain self-esteem, reminders of death may improve performance in sport. In Study 1, a mortality salience induction led to improved performance in a "one-on-one" basketball game. In Study 2, a subtle death prime led to higher scores on a basketball shooting task, which was associated with increased task-related self-esteem. These results may promote our understanding of sport and provide a novel potential way to improve athletic performance.
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Fears, Coping Styles, and Health Behaviors: A Comparison of Patients With Hypochondriasis, Panic Disorder, and Depression.
Research into correlates of illness anxiety disorder (formerly hypochondriasis) rarely applies comprehensive assessments of health behavior. Moreover, studies on phenomenological varieties of clinical health anxiety are scarce. We examined health behavior, fear, and acceptance of death and dying, and coping with a hypothetical bodily disease in patients with hypochondriasis, panic disorder, depression, and healthy controls (all groups n = 30) using self-rated questionnaires. ANOVA with Dunnett-T3 post hoc tests revealed no group differences in health behavior. The hypochondriasis and panic disorder groups showed more fear and less acceptance of death and dying than patients with depression and controls. Groups did not differ concerning coping strategies. Patients with hypochondriasis ruminated more when confronted with their most feared rather than another disease. Patients apparently ov…
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Older Adults and the Fear of Death: The Protective Function of Generativity.
Terror management theory (TMT) posits that cultural worldviews function to allay concerns about human mortality. Preliminary research with older adults has indicated that seniors do not respond to death reminders in the same way as their younger counterparts. The purpose of the current study was to test a developmentally relevant construct that may buffer death anxiety in later life. It was hypothesized that Erikson's concept of generativity may encompass death-denying properties for older adults. One hundred and seventy-nine seniors were recruited to determine if subtle mortality salience inductions would lead participants to rate their own generativity as higher than after a blatant induction, or no induction, after controlling for pre-induction generativity. As expected, participants exposed to subtle death primes rated themselves as having higher levels of generativity than the other…
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Power and death: Mortality salience increases power seeking while feeling powerful reduces death anxiety.
According to Terror Management Theory, people respond to reminders of mortality by seeking psychological security and bolstering their self-esteem. Because previous research suggests that having power can provide individuals a sense of security and self-worth, we hypothesize that mortality salience leads to an increased motivation to acquire power, especially among men. Study 1 found that men (but not women) who wrote about their death reported more interest in acquiring power. Study 2A and Study 2B demonstrated that when primed with reminders of death, men (but not women) reported behaving more dominantly during the subsequent week, while both men and women reported behaving more prosocially during that week. Thus, mortality salience prompts people to respond in ways that help them manage their death anxiety but in ways consistent with normative gender expectations. Furthermore, Studies…
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Attitudes and beliefs about deceased organ donation in the Arabic-speaking community in Australia: a focus group study.
Objectives: To describe the beliefs and attitudes to organ donation in the Arabic-speaking community.
Design: Arabic-speaking participants were purposively recruited to participate in 6 focus groups. Transcripts were analysed thematically.
Participants: 53 participants, aged 19-77 years, and originating from 8 countries, participated in 1 of 6 focus groups. Participants identified as Christian (73%), Islam (26%), Buddhist (2%) or did not identify with any religion (2%).
Results: 6 themes (with subthemes) were identified; religious conviction; invisibility of organ donation; medical suspicion; owning the decision; and reciprocal benefit.
Conclusions: Although organ donation is considered a generous life-saving 'gift', representative members of the Arabic-speaking community in Australia were unfamiliar with, unnerved by and sceptical about the donation process. Making positive decisions ab…
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Why do I dread looking old?: A test of social identity theory, terror management theory, and the double standard of aging.
Outward appearance is one of the means by which age is determined, and fear of looking old may stem from fears about social identity and death. This study explored how social identity theory and terror management theory may help to explain the dread of looking old. University students from the United States, England, and Australia (N = 1,042) completed a questionnaire regarding their attitudes about aging and older adults. Results indicated that sex, age, beliefs about personal aging, and death anxiety explained 30.4% of the variance for participants' dread of looking old. Theoretical hypotheses were supported by our findings.
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Frequency, intensity, and correlates of spiritual pain in advanced cancer patients assessed in a supportive/palliative care clinic.
Objective: Regular assessments of spiritual distress/spiritual pain among patients in a supportive/palliative care clinic (SCPC) are limited or unavailable. We modified the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) by adding spiritual pain (SP) to the scale (0 = best, 10 = worst) to determine the frequency, intensity, and correlates of self-reported SP (≥1/10) (pain deep in your soul/being that is not physical) among these advanced cancer patients.
Method: We reviewed 292 consecutive consults of advanced cancer patients (ACPs) who were evaluated at our SCPC between October of 2012 and January of 2013. Symptoms were assessed using the new instrument (termed the ESAS-FS).
Results: The median age of patients was 61 (range = 22-92). Some 53% were male; 189 (65%) were white, 45 (15%) African American, and 34 (12%) Hispanic. Some 123 of 282 (44%) of ACPs had SP (mean (95% CI) = 4(3.5-4.4). Adva…
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Why bother? Death, failure, and fatalistic withdrawal from life.
The current research examines the conditions under which death contemplation will reduce, rather than increase, goal directed activity. By employing a goal-regulation perspective on the problem of death, we hypothesized that death awareness precipitates withdrawal from the goal for continued life when life is experienced as dissatisfying and hope for the future appears bleak. In Study 1, participants with low life satisfaction who contemplated goal failure responded to mortality salience with reduced desire for continued life. Studies 2-4 examined general goal motivation. Consistent with the idea that withdrawal from life precipitates a general state of reduced goal motivation, parallel effects were observed on the willingness to delay gratification for future outcomes (Study 2), orientation toward the future (Study 3), and behavioral activation system (BAS) sensitivity (Study 4). Moreov…
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No Easy Talk: A Mixed Methods Study of Doctor Reported Barriers to Conducting Effective End-of-Life Conversations with Diverse Patients.
Objective: Though most patients wish to discuss end-of-life (EOL) issues, doctors are reluctant to conduct end-of-life conversations. Little is known about the barriers doctors face in conducting effective EOL conversations with diverse patients. This mixed methods study was undertaken to empirically identify barriers faced by doctors (if any) in conducting effective EOL conversations with diverse patients and to determine if the doctors' age, gender, ethnicity and medical sub-specialty influenced the barriers reported.
Design: Mixed-methods study of multi-specialty doctors caring for diverse, seriously ill patients in two large academic medical centers at the end of the training; data were collected from 2010 to 2012.
Outcomes: Doctor-reported barriers to EOL conversations with diverse patients.
Results: 1040 of 1234 potential subjects (84.3%) participated. 29 participants were designat…
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Death concerns and psychological well-being in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder.
Purpose: Utilizing a terror management theory perspective, the present research examined whether having a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with underlying cognitions and explicit worries about death, and their roles in psychological well-being.
Method: 147 mothers of children with ASD (n=74) and typically developing children (n=73) completed a fear of death scale, as well as measures of death-thought accessibility, positive and negative affect, depression, and anxiety.
Results: Following previous research, mothers of children with ASD reported worse psychological health. Additionally, they evidenced greater death-thought accessibility compared to mothers of typically developing children, but did not differ in explicit worries about mortality. Greater death-thought accessibility, in turn, mediated the influence of ASD diagnosis on negative affect, depression, and an…
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Yaakobi E (2015)MEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by usExperimental psychology9 citations Desire to work as a death anxiety buffer mechanism.
Four studies were conducted to examine the death anxiety buffering function of work as a terror management mechanism, and the possible moderating role of culture. In Study 1, making mortality salient led to higher reports of participants' desire to work. In Study 2, activating thoughts of fulfillment of the desire to work after mortality salience reduced the accessibility of death-related thoughts. In Study 3, activating thoughts of fulfillment of the desire to work reduced the effects of mortality salience on out-group derogation. In Study 4, priming thoughts about obstacles to the actualization of desire to work led to greater accessibility of death-related thoughts. Although two different cultures with contrasting work values were examined, the results were consistent, indicating that the desire to work serves as a death anxiety buffer mechanism in both cultures.
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Mortality salience modulates cortical responses to painful somatosensory stimulation: Evidence from slow wave and delta band activity.
Social psychology studies show that awareness of one's eventual death profoundly influences human cognition and behaviour by inducing defensive reactions against end-of-life-related anxiety. Much less is known about the impact of reminders of mortality on brain activity. Here we tested whether reminders of mortality can induce a modulation of the slow electroencephalographic activity triggered by somatosensory nociceptive or auditory threatening stimulation and if this modulation is related to mood and anxiety as well as personality traits. We found a specific slow wave (SW) modulation only for nociceptive stimulation and only following mortality salience induction (compared to reminders of an important failed exam). The enhancement of SW negativity at the scalp vertex was associated with increased state anxiety and negative mood, whereas higher self-esteem was associated with reduced SW…
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Existential neuroscience: self-esteem moderates neuronal responses to mortality-related stimuli.
According to terror management theory, self-esteem serves as a buffer against existential anxiety. This proposition is well supported empirically, but its neuronal underpinnings are poorly understood. Therefore, in the present neuroimaging study, our aim was to test how self-esteem affects our neural circuitry activation when death-related material is processed. Consistent with previous findings, the bilateral insula responded less to death-related stimuli relative to similarly unpleasant, but death-unrelated sentences, an effect that might reflect a decrease in the sense of oneself in the face of existential threat. In anterior parts of the insula, this 'deactivation' effect was more pronounced for high self-esteem individuals, suggesting that the insula might be of core importance to understanding the anxiety-buffering effect of self-esteem. In addition, low self-esteem participants re…
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Increases in generative concern among older adults following reminders of mortality.
According to terror management theory, people are motivated to protect themselves from the potential for anxiety resulting from awareness of mortality. It was hypothesized that increased concern for future generations, and the symbolic immortality this produces, may be particularly important to older adults when awareness of their mortality is increased. In two studies, older and younger adults' generative concern was examined following mortality or control primes. As hypothesized, older adults' generative concern and preference for pro-social over pro-self generativity were greater following reminders of mortality, whereas neither effect was observed among younger adults. For both studies, age differences were only observed when mortality salience was heightened; older and younger adults' generative concern did not differ in control conditions. Results provide support for the hypothesis…
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Probabilistic thinking and death anxiety: a terror management based study.
Terror Management Theory has been utilized to understand how death can change behavioral outcomes and social dynamics. One area that is not well researched is why individuals willingly engage in risky behavior that could accelerate their mortality. One method of distancing a potential life threatening outcome when engaging in risky behaviors is through stacking probability in favor of the event not occurring, termed probabilistic thinking. The present study examines the creation and psychometric properties of the Probabilistic Thinking scale in a sample of young, middle aged, and older adults (n = 472). The scale demonstrated adequate internal consistency reliability for each of the four subscales, excellent overall internal consistency, and good construct validity regarding relationships with measures of death anxiety. Reliable age and gender effects in probabilistic thinking were also …
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Mortality salience increases defensive distancing from people with terminal cancer.
Based on principles of terror management theory, the authors hypothesized that participants would distance more from a target person with terminal cancer than from a target with arthritis, and that this effect would be stronger following mortality salience. In Study 1, adults rated how similar their personalities were to a target person; in Study 2, participants arranged two chairs in preparation for meeting the target person. Both studies found that distancing from the person with terminal cancer increased after participants wrote about their own death (vs. giving a speech). Thus, death anxiety may explain why people avoid close contact with terminally ill people; further analyses suggest that gender and self-esteem may also influence such distancing from the terminally ill.
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Honoring our donors: a survey of memorial ceremonies in United States anatomy programs.
Many anatomy programs that incorporate dissection of donated human bodies hold memorial ceremonies of gratitude towards body donors. The content of these ceremonies may include learners' reflections on mortality, respect, altruism, and personal growth told through various humanities modalities. The task of planning is usually student- and faculty-led with participation from other health care students. Objective information on current memorial ceremonies for body donors in anatomy programs in the United States appears to be lacking. The number of programs in the United States that currently plan these memorial ceremonies and information on trends in programs undertaking such ceremonies remain unknown. Gross anatomy program directors throughout the United States were contacted and asked to respond to a voluntary questionnaire on memorial ceremonies held at their institution. The results (r…
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The dissection room experience: A factor in the choice of organ and whole body donation--a Nigerian survey.
The psychosocial impact of human dissection on the lives of medical and health science students has been noted. To assess the impact of the dissection room experience on one's willingness to become a whole body and organ donor, the attitudes of 1,350 students and professionals from the medical, health, and non-health related disciplines to body and organ donation were studied. The participants were broken into categories according to degree of exposure to human dissection. Participants who were never exposed to the dissection experience showed more willingness to donate their bodies than those who were exposed. With the exception of the physiotherapy department, the students and professionals from the health science departments who were exposed to the dissection room but never engaged in dissection showed the most unwillingness to donate their bodies (P < 0.001). An unwillingness to dona…
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Death preparedness: a concept analysis.
Aim: To report analysis of the concept death preparedness in the context of end-of-life shared decisions and communication.
Background: Forty percent of older people require decision-making and communication in the final days of life. Elaborate defence mechanisms have yielded a public consciousness that no longer passively views death acceptance, but instead has a defensive orientation of preparedness. The term 'death preparedness' depicts this death attitude.
Design: Concept analysis.
Data sources: Data were collected over 3 months in 2013. A series of searches of scholarly peer-reviewed literature published in English were conducted of multiple databases. Specific keywords included such phrases as: death acceptance, death avoidance, death rejection, death preparedness, resolution of life, breaking bad news and readiness to die.
Methods: Walker and Avant's method was chosen as a deducti…
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End-of-life treatment preferences: a key to reducing ethnic/racial disparities in advance care planning?
Background: The objective of this study was to identify targets for interventions to reduce end-of-life care disparities among patients with advanced cancer. To do this, the authors evaluated the degree to which end-of-life care values and preferences are associated with advance care planning within racial/ethnic minority groups.
Methods: The Coping with Cancer study recruited patients with advanced cancer from outpatient clinics in 5 states from 2002 to 2008. Then, the rates of 1 type of advance care planning-do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders-reported at baseline interviews by 606 patients were investigated. Bivariate tests determined associations among DNR order completion, religious values, and treatment preferences within racial/ethnic groups.
Results: Non-Latino white patients were significantly more likely to have a DNR order (45%) than black (25%) and Latino (20%) patients (P<.001).…
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Finding meaning despite anxiety over life and death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients.
Aim and objectives: To illuminate how people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) create meaning despite the disease.
Background: Coping strategies for living with ALS have already been investigated. However, there is a lack of studies on how people with the disease find meaning and what helps and hinders this.
Design: A qualitative descriptive study.
Methods: Fourteen individual interviews were performed in Spring 2007. The interviews were analysed by qualitative content analysis.
Results: Two themes emerged to illuminate the complex life situation of the interviewees: experiences of anxiety over life and death and finding meaning despite the illness. It became clear that the uncertain journey towards death was more frightened than death itself. Despite the incurable disease, which brought feelings of life and death anxiety, physical loss, unfairness, guilt, shame and existential lo…
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Creatureliness priming reduces aggression and support for war.
Terror management theory (TMT) posits that humans distance themselves from, or elevate themselves above, other animals as a way of denying their mortality. The present studies assessed whether the salience of aggressive tendencies that humans share with other animals make thoughts of death salient and whether depicting human aggression as animalistic can mitigate aggressive behaviour and support for aggression. In Study 1, participants primed with human-animal similarities (i.e., human creatureliness) exhibited elevated death-thought accessibility (DTA) after hitting a punching bag. In Studies 2a and 2b, creatureliness priming caused participants to hit a punching bag with less frequency, perceived force, and comfort. In Study 3, participants primed to view violence as animalistic exhibited increased DTA and reported less support for war against Iran. These studies suggest that portrayin…
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Routledge C (2012)MEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by usThe Journal of social psychology13 citations Failure causes fear: the effect of self-esteem threat on death-anxiety.
According to terror management theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, 1986), self-esteem protects people from anxiety associated with the knowledge of certain mortality. A number of studies provide evidence consistent with this assertion, but no studies have experimentally examined the effect of threatened self-esteem on death-anxiety. In the current study, self-esteem was manipulated and death-anxiety measured. A self-esteem threat increased death-anxiety relative to a self-esteem boost and non-self threat control condition.
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