| dc.description.abstract | This study involved the construction and partial validation
of two scales (Ultimate Rescuer, UR and Specialness, SP) that
Yalom (1960) suggests measure the beliefs one utilizes as a
defense against death anxiety. Evidence for how they relate to
cognitive fear of death measures (Threat Index, TI, Templer Death
Anxiety Scale, DAS', and Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale, CL)
was obtained. One hundred and twenty-nine items considered to
best represent the two beliefs were counterbalanced and administered
to 150 introductory psychology students. Those items with
item-total correlation coefficients with a probability of .001 or
better were retained. Two scales, with 15 items per scale, were
constructed from these items. Each scale was found to have high
internal consistency reliability, (UR, r = .89; SP, r = .82) and
were cross validated on a second similar population (UR, r = 86;
SP, r = .87). Factor analysis resulted in the UR items all
loading on 1 factor, while the SP items loaded on 2 factors.
Construct validation procedures revealed mixed results. The
expected negative correlation between the defense scales and fear
of death measures was only found for the SP Scale and the CL. No
correlation was found for the UR Scale. T-tests for criterion
groups revealed that the UR group had significantly higher UR
scores and significantly lower fear of death scores. No differences
were found for the SP group. In general, the results partrally establish a relationship between the Ultimate Rescuer
and Specialness Scales and conscious fear of death, thus lending
some support to Yalom's (1980) theory of death anxiety,
implication for future research is discussed. | |
