A Study on the relationship between religiosity and death anxiety

ABSTRACT The aim of this study, first of all, is to examine the relationship between religiosity (R) and death anxiety (DA); later, the relationships of R and DA to such variables as age, sex, marital status, socio-economic status (SES), and education. The sampling group of this study (555 students: m= 360, f= 195) was randomly selected from the pool of senior and junior students who study at several faculties of Dokuz Eylul University such as Economics, Medicine, Law, Arts, Divinity and Engineering (Departments of Mining and Civil). The age of sample is ranging from 16 to 42 (M^.- 21.02). The instruments used for gathering data were Religious Life Inventory, which was constructed and developed by a group of members of The Faculty of Divinity, and Templer's Death Anxiety Scale. The results showed that DA was correlated with R and sex at p<.01 significant level; but not correlated to the other variables such as age, marital status, SES and education. According to the results of two-way analysis of variance, the main effect of DA on R was found as (F2,44z=10.28, p<.001). On the other hand the main effect of R on DA was found as (F2,49i=8.58, p<.001). Moreover, the results showed that the mean score of females in relation to DA was higher than the mean score of males. As for the variable of R, it has been found that it was correlated with the all but SES variable at p<.01 significant level. According to these results, the mean scores of R of males (t= -2.61, p<.01) and of the married were higher than females and the single subjects (t=3.50, p<.001).