Development and Initial Validation of the Death Attitudes in Relationships Scale

Abstract

AbstractRelationships with close relatives, friends, and future generations should be critical in a collective society; therefore, the fear of separation from others, and care for others, must be core components of attitudes concerning death. However, such relational attitudes toward death have been insufficiently investigated. This study develops a new psychological scale for assessing death attitudes considering relationships with loved ones and future generations. In Study 1, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis using data from 477 Japanese adults. The results revealed a five‐factor structure of the Death Attitudes in Relationships Scale (DARS) and confirmed its internal consistency, convergent validity, and test–retest reliability. In Study 2 (N = 380), we demonstrated the goodness‐of‐fit indices for the factor structure and further verified the construct validity, considering relationships with other variables. As such, we confirmed the validity and reliability of the DARS. The DARS can be used to reexamine the previous, accumulated findings using the existing scale.