Effects of Death Education on Fear of Death and Attitudes towards Death and Life

Abstract

The effects of a death education course were determined for two different classes of students, comparing them with students of sex education and introductory psychology. All students completed a variety of attitudinal, motivational and demographic background measures before and at the end of their courses. The results indicated that initially the death education students did not differ greatly from the students in the other two courses in their beliefs, attitudes and backgrounds. The death education course did affect students' views such that at the end of the course they viewed death as more approachable and wished to experience death in a more interpersonal as compared to a technological context.