The research is a cross-cultural comparative study of the relationship between death anxiety and selected demographiv variables (gender, age, educational attainment, nationality, self-assessed health, self-perceived financial status, religious affiliation, marriage-related variables, job-related variables, health-related variables religiosity, family relationships, living accommodations, and social interaction) among Korean and American older adults.
Since life saving or life maintaining technologies have been improved, gerontologists have focused on the constituents of death anxiety, which is generally recognized to be important factor in determining psychological well-being for older adults. However, despite numerous studies, controversy persists as to the relationship between death anxiety and selected demographic variables. Furthermore, cross-cultural studies have been conducted with predominantly white populations.
In this research, however, 300 Korean and 217 American young-old (60-74 years of age) and old-old (above 75 years of age) adults residing in Seoul, Korea and Columbus, Ohio, respectively, were compared on the death anxiety across 14 selected personal demographic variables.
Therefore, the purpose of the research was (a) to examine the characteristics of subjects on the independent variables; (b) to examine the relationship between the independent variables and death anxiety; (c) to determine the proportion of variance in death anxiety which is accounted for by the respective independent varables; (d) to determine the combination of variables which is the most successful in explaining the variance in death anxiety; (e) to determine if this pattern will hold cross-culturally.
Findings from this study support the following conclusions:
1. The American showed a higher level of death anxiety than the Koreans.
2. The male Koreans implied a lower death anxiety in contrast to the female Koreans.
3. The young-old Korean adults had a higher death anxiety than the old-old Korean adult.
4. The variable ´children (female)´ for the young-old adults and ´friend (female)´ for the old-old Korea adults were found to be the best predictors of death anxiety.
The findings of the study lend this investigator several implications and recommendations for future research.
1. Only a test of the significant relationship between ´death anxiety of self and the overall independent variable showed a significant level of p < .05 for the American older adults. There remains the need for more detailed examination into the nature of this relationship and the extent to which core components strongly affecting the above subscales.
2. Large-scale studies encompassing more ethnic groups should be done to secure more representative data so that a comprehensive of studies toward attitude as measured by death anxiety cross-culturally can be established because the present study is the first to investigate these two distinct nations exclusively. In other words, similar studies are needed to further validate these findings.
Therefore, in order to improve the psychological wellness in later life, those factors should be the focus of concerns for the political decision makers, the familities and social care givers and the professional facilities, especially, these concerned with health and welfare of older poeple attempting to meet the needs of older adults both in the Unoted and in Korea.
|