Personal meanings of death in older adults and young adults in relation to their fears of death.

Age and gender differences in personal meanings of death have been noted from late childhood to middle adulthood but have been little studied in older adults, for whom death is less remote. Also, such meanings have not been related to their fears of death. Groups of 78 young adults (aged 19-29) and 68 older adults (aged 70-97) were compared on the Personal Meanings of Death (Extinction, After-life, Motivator, Legacy) and on 4 Multidimensional Fear of Death (MFODS) subscales. Analysis of variance indicated that the young scored higher (p <.05) than older adults on death as Motivator and on 3 MFODS subscales. Women scored higher than men on Motivator and fear of the dying process, but men had greater fear of the unknown. Death meanings After-life and Extinction were most strongly correlated with fear of death for both young and old. Further analysis revealed age differences within the older adult group.