Exploring Fears of Death and Dying Using Network Analysis

Fear of death is often seen as pathological, but this study used network analysis with 486 community participants to examine its links to psychological distress, mindfulness, compassion, life-limiting illness, spirituality, meaning in life, and self-esteem. The directed network showed that fear of another's death centrally influenced other death-anxiety facets, life-limiting illness, mindfulness, and meaning in life, while other death-anxiety facets had no significant influence on wellbeing. Self-esteem did not buffer death anxiety as previously proposed. Psychedelic use and meditation correlated with lower death anxiety, though these findings require replication. The results suggest death anxiety could facilitate existential growth, supporting Buddhist teachings on mortality awareness.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Fear of death is often pathologised, yet little research has examined its unique links to different aspects of an individual’s life. This study investigated the unique associations among fear of death, psychological distress, mindfulness, compassion, life limiting illness, spirituality, meaning in life, and self-esteem using network analysis. It also explored the potential influence of meditation and psychedelics. A total of 486 community-based participants including university students completed a series of online surveys, which comprised a sociodemographic questionnaire and eight self-report rating scales. A Bayesian Gaussian Graphical Model was used to estimate nondirectional associations between variables, while a Directed Acyclic Graph depicted probabilities of directional links. The directed network revealed the central role of fear of another's death and its direct influence on other facets of death anxiety, life limiting illness, mindfulness, meaning in life, and subsequently spirituality and other variables in the network. The remaining facets of death anxiety had no significant influence on any wellbeing-related variables. This study empirically expanded upon the Terror Management Theory and found that self-esteem may not buffer death anxiety as previously proposed. Secondary analyses found that psychedelic use and meditation experience correlated with lower death anxiety, but these findings require replication due to small samples between groups. These findings reframe assumptions about death anxiety by revealing its specific effects and avenues for promoting wellness surrounding mortality. In addition, they provide empirical support for Buddhist teachings, which emphasise the awakening effect of directly realising mortality. These results suggest that death anxiety could facilitate existential growth, contributing to the body of literature that highlights its potential positive effects. This study was not preregistered.