Correlational studies of the fear of death completed over the last decade are reviewed. Research topics, trends, and findings are compared to earlier research on death anxiety correlates. Emphasis is placed on definitions of the construct, measurement techniques, concepts of death, and the variables of sex, age, occupation, socioeconomic status, value orientation, levels of awareness, and relationships between death anxiety and an array of personality variables. Suggestions for future areas of research are made.

A review of the term obsessive-compulsive personality (or anal character) is presented. Statistical studies of obsessive-compulsive personality conducted over approximately the last two decades are then reviewed, emphasizing the extent to which they support theory, clinical observation, and description. Evidence is still needed on precise etiological determinants, and persuasive evidence in favor of classical psychoanalytic theories about etiology is lacking. Empirically based findings to date, however, are congruent with clinical observation, description, and prediction regarding the salient behavioral characteristics and character styles of obsessive-compulsive individuals.The obsessive-compulsive personality or anal character, as it is sometimes termed, came under close scrutiny by Freud and his colleagues (

A descriptive overview of obsessive compulsive personality is presented, and the conclusions of earlier empirical reviews are summarized. Perspectives on etiology are reviewed, emphasizing the convergence of classical analytic, other psychodynamic, and social learning viewpoints in the identification of a constellation of causal psychosocial factors.Statistical studies over the last decade are then reviewed, assessing their methodological adequacy and the extent to which they support theoretical formulations and clinical observation, description, and prediction. Issues in differential diagnosis are discussed. Suggestions for future research directions are made.

The nature of the relationship between obsessive-compulsive personality and obsessive-compulsive disorder has been the subject of considerable debate. The present article dealt with clinical opinion and reviewed empirical data bearing on this issue. It was concluded that, although the two clinical entities bear a surface similarity in terms of shared behavioral features and defenses, obsessive-compulsive personality is neither a necessary nor sufficient factor in the development of obsessive-compulsive disorder, though the latter appears to be more frequently associated with premorbid obsessive-compulsive personality patterns than with other personality patterns. Suggestions for future research study are made.

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