Death Anxiety and Sexual Fantasy

Abstract

Degree of death anxiety as a function of the frequencies of sexual fantasy was examined. Two groups of volunteer male and female graduate students were administered the Livingston-Zimet “Death Anxiety Scale” (DAS). The ninety-eight members of group I were asked to extemporaneously self-estimate the frequency of sexual fantasies per month, while the thirty-six in group II made actual daily counts of sexual fantasies with the use of wrist counters. Both groups I and II were individually divided into three subgroups as to “high,” “moderate,” and “low” death anxiety by rank-ordered scores on the DAS. Sexual fantasies were examined in three fantasy conditions: “Daydream,” “masturbatory,” and “during sex relations.” Findings from both groups I and II supported the hypothesis that those having “high” and “low” death anxiety will have more frequent sexual fantasies than “moderate” death anxious subjects.