Gratitude lessens death anxiety

Abstract

This study investigated whether a brief gratitude induction could reduce death anxiety. 83 Chinese older adults (mean age = 62.7, SD = 7.13) were randomly assigned into one of three conditions: gratitude, hassle, and neutral, in which they wrote different types of life events before responding to measures of death anxiety and affect. Participants in the gratitude induction reported lower death anxiety than the hassle and the neutral condition, whereas no difference was observed for the latter two conditions. There was no experimental effect on positive affect, and a significant effect on negative affect but which did not favor the gratitude condition. By reexamining life events with a thankful attitude, people may become less fearful of death due to a sense that life has been well-lived. Because gratitude can be induced using a very brief procedure, there are broad applications in clinical and health-care settings for the relief of death anxiety.

The Predictive Model of Elderly Psychological Well-being Based on Personality With the Mediation of Self-care, Spiritual Experiences, and Death Anxiety

“…The content and face validity of the questionnaire were also approved by experts' opinions. In this study, Cronbach's alpha was 0.79 [29].…”

Gratitude between patients and their families and health professionals: A scoping review

“…In terms of those who express gratitude, there are studies describing the benefits of regular actions of gratitude on psychological and physical well‐being (Elosúa, ; Emmons & McCullough, ; Lai, ; Sansone & Sansone, ; Watkins, Woodward, Stone, & Kolts, ; Wood et al., ). Others suggest that gratitude helps to lessen stress (Krause, ; Tsui Pui, ; Wood, Maltby, Gillett, Linley, & Joseph, ) and even anxiety when facing death (Lau & Cheng, ). Given the stresses associated with illness and health care, experiencing gratitude may be particularly beneficial and explain why it is expressed by patients and family members after especially difficult times.…”

Gratitude at the End of Life: A Promising Lead for Palliative Care

“…Recently, relationships between gratitude and important outcomes of palliative care have been examined in the general population. Significant links were reported between gratitude and anxiety (12), depression (11, [13][14][15], and death anxiety (16,17). Two longitudinal studies highlighted that gratitude was a significant predictor of decreased depression and psychological distress (18).…”