Perceptions of and Attitudes Toward Death, Dying, Grief, and the Finitude of Life—A Representative Survey Among the General Public in Germany

Abstract

Some end-of-life aspects have become a significant political and social issue such as elderly care and euthanasia. But hardly anything is known about how the general public in Germany thinks about death and dying more generally. Therefore, we conducted a representative online survey ( N = 997) regarding 21 end-of-life aspects. Differences between subgroups were analyzed by conducting analyses of variance and Tukey honestly significance difference post hoc tests and by performing t tests. The findings revealed that the general public is open to engaging with topics of death, dying, and grief and that death education might even be promoted for children. Most participants appraised dealing with the finitude of life as part of a good life, but few have contemplated death and dying themselves so far. Attitudes and perceptions were related to age, subjective health, religious denomination, and gender. The survey provides useful implications for community palliative care, death education, and communication with dying people.