Death education and educators: The role of attitudes, anxiety, and future time perspective.
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| Title: | Death education and educators: The role of attitudes, anxiety, and future time perspective. |
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| Authors: | Ferrari, Lea (AUTHOR), Sgaramella, Teresa M. (AUTHOR), Testoni, Ines (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Death Studies. 2026, Vol. 50 Issue 6, p957-964. 8p. |
| Subjects: | Thanatology, Attitudes toward death, Graduate education, Scale analysis (Psychology), Pearson correlation (Statistics), Statistical models, Cronbach's alpha, Questionnaires, Anxiety, Path analysis (Statistics), Descriptive statistics, College teacher attitudes, Statistics, Student attitudes, Psychology of college students, Masters programs (Higher education), Data analysis software, Time |
| Geographic Terms: | Italy |
| Abstract: | This study explores the impact of death representations on openness to death education among university students in teaching and education degree programs. Drawing from Terror Management Theory, the roles of future time perspective (FTP), death anxiety, and the ontological representation of death as total annihilation were analyzed. The results show that viewing death as annihilation negatively impacts FTP, reducing the ability to think about the future. Diminished FTP increases negative thoughts about death and lack of death acceptance. When FTP still allows making sense of life despite death, it reduces death rejection, however, it does not increase openness to death education, activating proximal defenses. Conversely, when death representation constrains FTP, death thoughts emerge that lead to desiring death education pathways, activating distal defenses. The study highlights the importance of addressing death representations and developing a healthy time perspective in training programs for educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Death Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | This study explores the impact of death representations on openness to death education among university students in teaching and education degree programs. Drawing from Terror Management Theory, the roles of future time perspective (FTP), death anxiety, and the ontological representation of death as total annihilation were analyzed. The results show that viewing death as annihilation negatively impacts FTP, reducing the ability to think about the future. Diminished FTP increases negative thoughts about death and lack of death acceptance. When FTP still allows making sense of life despite death, it reduces death rejection, however, it does not increase openness to death education, activating proximal defenses. Conversely, when death representation constrains FTP, death thoughts emerge that lead to desiring death education pathways, activating distal defenses. The study highlights the importance of addressing death representations and developing a healthy time perspective in training programs for educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 07481187 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/07481187.2025.2487772 |
