Predictors of Death Anxiety

Thinking about death can be anxiety-provoking, but not for everyone. Death anxiety—the distress that arises from thoughts of mortality—is linked to a range of mental and physical health challenges, yet little is known about what might protect people from it in everyday life. Most existing research focuses on how people react to reminders of death, rather than what stable traits make some individuals more resilient to those thoughts in the first place. In this study, led by OW student (and now alum) Bryan Zampella examined whether traits like delay of gratification, egalitarian gender role attitudes, and positive reflections on death predict lower levels of death anxiety. Their findings suggest that people who are more future-oriented, who reject rigid gender roles, and who view mortality as an opportunity for meaning-making tend to report less fear of death. These results point to promising psychological factors that may buffer against existential distress.

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It is currently published in Omega: The Journal of Death and Dying.