Benue State University, Makurdi

INFLUENCE OF COHORT AND GENDER ON DEATH ANXIETY AMONG ADULTS IN EKITI STATE, NIGERIA

Olatunji Olabimpe Ajoke, Olagundoye Helen Foluke
(Department of Psychology, Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria +2347062663826, uchoaondoaver@yahoo.com)

Abstract

The study explored the influence of cohort and gender on death anxiety among three age groups of adults; namely early adults (18–34 years), middle adults (35-60years) and late adults (60 years and above). A total of 468 adults (male = 230, female = 238) were drawn from among Nigerian adults residents in Ekiti State using a multi-stage random sampling technique. The Death Anxiety Scale (DAS) developed by Templer (1970) was used to measure death anxiety and a single item in the questionnaire measured age and gender of the participants. Four hypotheses were tested and the data were analyzed using One-Way ANOVA and Independent t -test. The results revealed that there is no significant influence of age cohort on death anxiety. The results also revealed that the female middle adult age group only significantly scored higher than their male counterpart on death anxiety. It was concluded that gender predicts death anxiety among middle age cohort while age is not a good predictor of death anxiety among adults. The results were discussed with the framework of the relevant theories in the field of psychology while it was recommended that the current modern societies should create a variety of mechanisms for removing and reducing the actual experience of fear of death from everyday life.

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