Meanings of death and intrinsic religiosity.

The objective of this study was to simplify understandings of relationships between multidimensional elements of the fear of death and dying with a unidimensional construct of intrinsic religiosity. A total of 346 individuals who ranged in age from 18 to 88 completed a death anxiety scale and a measure of intrinsic religious motivation. Respondents who were older and who were higher in intrinsic religiosity were significantly lower in death anxiety. Differing constructions of death and dying are examined.