Death anxiety as mediator of relationship between renunciation of desire and mental health as predicted by Nonself Theory

Abstract

In the present paper, we report two studies examining the relationships among renunciation of desires, death anxiety, and mental health. In the first study, we constructed the Desire Questionnaire (DQ), which measures success in renouncing certain desire. The DQ has satisfactory psychometric properties. In the second study, 501 adults from a Chinese society ranging in age from 17 to 84 years (M = 35.58, SD = 14.76) completed the DQ, the Death Anxiety Scale (DAS), and the Chinese Health Questionnaire (CHQ), which measures mental health and the presence of psychiatric symptoms. As predicted, DQ had significant negative correlations with both DAS (p < 0.05) and CHQ (p < 0.01). DAS had a significant positive correlation with CHQ (p < 0.01). In the linear mediation model, DAS was found to partially mediate the relationship between DQ and CHQ (β = − 0.18, p < 0.001). These results suggest that the negative effect of poor control of desires on mental health can be partially accounted for by death anxiety. These findings imply that training in eliminating desires can be a successful strategy to improve mental health. These results also support the Nonself Theory as a theory of death anxiety and show its relevance to the relationship between nonself and mental health.

Comments on previous psychological Tai-Chi models: Jun-zi self-cultivation model

“…Individuals of egoism follow the principle of seeking greater happiness and avoiding pain ( Fave et al, 2011 ; Crespo and Mesurado, 2015 ). By adopting the negative duties of refraining from harming or invading others, and the associated laws, their psychological activities signify egoism mostly ( Dambrun and Ricard, 2011 ; Shiah, 2016 ; Dambrun et al, 2019 ; Kuo et al, 2022 ).…”

Editorial: We are not WEIRD: Chinese culture and psychology

“…By providing a thorough scientific interpretation of Chinese traditions and revolutionizing “WEIRD” psychology and social science (Hwang, 2012 ; Shiah, 2016 , 2021 , 2023 ; Kuo et al, 2022 ; Xu et al, 2022 ), we can pave the way for a transformative movement. For the sake of establishing an autonomous academic tradition of social science in transformative Confucian culture, we established the Chinese Indigenous Social Science Association in 2018 in Taiwan to promote this movement, and I am the current president of the association.…”