Concepciones y actitudes ante la muerteteorías implícitas, determinantes socioculturales y aspectos psicológicos relacionados

Résumé

INTRODUCTION The essence of man is in making aware of the existence of death. The existence of this preoccupation with death has varied in its manifestations throughout History. According Kellehear (1984) is inappropriate to speak today on the death taboo in modem society due to the proliferation of literature, which is a "rediscovery" of death but what is certain is, like Hernandez, Gonzalez said, Fernandez, and Infante (2002) that "in modern society there is no time or inclination to think about death." Earlier they had more contact with death, most died at home, with friends and family around and a shorter process and where the rituals of mourning became more patents (Lemon, 1994 Colell, 2005) .The death agony now it is silent, betrays and she must not be mentioned (Gala, Lupiani, Raja Guillen Gonzalez, Villaverde and Sánchez, 2002, Uribe-Rodriguez Valderrama, Duran Galeano-Monroy and Gamboa, 2008). In the same way and by its very nature modern man should not show signs of pain before death, should not do this, you should not teach other signs of their existence. Man creates science with top three ever-present, know, explain and predict phenomena that occur in our reality. But death is beyond our understanding because we can not experience it. Religion comes where they do not get to experience science and there where does not understand philosophy. Elias (1987): "There is no idea, however strange it may seem, in which men are unwilling to believe with profound devotion, as long as you provide them with relief at the knowledge that one day no longer exist, provided that offered the hope of a way to eternity for their existence "(in Thomas-Sat and Gomez-Benito, 2003). In the past, not too distant, death was lived as a social event, a series of ritualized practices that served to calm the anxieties of living. Today�s society is a society that denies death (despite claims Kellehear, 1984), the away not only common ideology, but of all the surrounding reality. A society that, being mortal, rejects death (Thomas-Sat and Gomez-Benito, 2003). A real "pornography of death" (Gorer, in Aries, 1999) lives today. Death is a "multidimensional" (De Vries, and BirrenBluck, 1993) concept that can be understood based on three aspects, three-dimensional or three way of living death: death experienced since my own death, or death in the first person; death lived since I along with others, shared death; and death in society, the impact of death on the other and their environment, more associated with the identity or role of the people to their physical body. Besides death, attitudes toward death, can be addressed in connection with a series of related variables. One of these may be values. Perhaps the change in attitudes towards death, fears and new anxieties generated by it is due to a change in the value system that considers positive and desirable aspects such as competitiveness, consumerism, body worship andsuccess, while valued as negative and reprehensible failure, aging, sickness and death (Thomas-Sat and Gomez-Benito 2003). Another is age. Psychologists lifecycle (Neugarten, 1968; Levinson, 1977 and Kastenbaum, 1979) have postulated that different age groups vary in their attitudes toward death, partly because of its proximity and differential exposure to it (Monchietti, Lombardo and Sanchez, 2007), although most people are reaching maturity without having witnessed a death or gone to a funeral (Schmidt, 2007), so that the way in which a person understands and experiences death when child has a big impact on how that person will develop his adult life and in his last days (Widera-Wysoczañska, 1999). Sex. The empirical evidence suggests that women are more negatively affected by the loss than men (Sanders, 1993). The personality. We start from the idea that the higher the rate of Neuroticism in shaping the personality of the subject, the greater hope is their fear of death (Loo, 1984 in White, 1992) and also thought it might be related to attitude of death Avoidance directly. Previous experiences. "The human species is the only one known to have died and only know by experience" (Voltaire). The memory of the first experience with death can persist into adulthood (Dickinson, 1992) it seems useful to determine what aspects of the first memories are related to current attitudes towards death (Knight et al., 2000). Only the experience of a natural death can root the concept of death (Sheets-Johnstone, 1986). As set Lonetto and Templer (1988), "The question here is whether the death anxiety would be the result of a lack of education and, therefore, reducible through knowledge and suppression of superstition", but not only that, the question must also state whether it is possible to continue this educational process once they reach maturity. MATERIAL AND METHOD The sample consists of a total of 825 valid cases from college students (51.2%) and high school students (48.8%) collected between May 2013 and January 2014, with an age range of between 13 to 30 years (mean of 18.44 and standard deviation 3.25), which are distributed equally between Young adolescents, Adolescents, Young adults and Adults groups. The study protocol included a sociodemographic questionnaire, EPQ-A, HAD, PRAM, ESV, LOT and PIV. The data were processed with SPSS20. RESULTS The frequency distribution of attitudes toward death shows: Fear of death 23%, to death Avoidance 2.3%, 57%) Neutral acceptance, Approach acceptance 13.4% and 4.3% Escape acceptance. The results mean for detailed gender of attitudes Fear of death (Women and Men = 4.23 = 3.67), to death Avoidance (Women and Men = 4.42 = 4.10) and Neutral acceptance (Women and Men = 5.56 = 5.9). Scheffe post hoc for PRAM and age group, of attitudes Approach acceptance and Escape acceptance shows these results: Young adolescents and Young adults (I-J) = 0.72962 and p = <0.001; Young adolescents and Adults, (I-J) = 0.89079 and p = <0.001; Adolescents and Young adults (I-J) = 0.50646 and p = 0.012 and Adolescents and Adults (I-J) = 0.66763 and p = 0.001; ofApproach acceptance. Young adolescents and Young adults (I-J) = 0.48807 and p = 0.024, Young Adolescents and Adults, (I- J) = 0.91571 and p = <0.001, Adolescents and Adults (I-J) = 0.68271 and p = 0.002, ofEscape acceptance. The correlation between the scores on the personality test EPQR-A and PRAM throws significance relations between Fear of death and Neuroticism (r = 0.185 and p = <0.001) and Psychoticism (r = -0.123 p = 0.001); to death Avoidance and Neuroticism (r = 0.086 and p = 0.025) and Psychoticism (r = - 0.108 and p = 0.005); Neutral acceptance and Neuroticism (r = -0.081 p = 0.035) and Psychoticism (r = 0.105 and p = 0.006); Approach acceptance and Neuroticism (r = 0.081 and p = 0.034), Psychoticism (r = -0.139 p = <0.001) and Sincerity (r = -0.104 p = 0.006) and Escape acceptance and Neuroticism (r = 0.177 and p = <0.001 ) and Extraversión (r = -0.147 p = <0.001). The post hoc Scheffe test shows significant differences between the means of PRAM and the degree of commitment to religious beliefs. Within the dependent variable Fear of death exists significant covariation between groups and Non-believer and Believer ((IJ) = -0.74933 p = <0.001) and Non Believerand Practicing believer ((IJ) = -0.77582 p = <0.001). The correlation between Life satisfaction scores (ESV) and PRAM shows statistical significance at the intersections between to death Avoidance and ESV (r = 0.099) and Escape Acceptance and ESV (r = -0.242). LOT ANOVA and death concept does not show statistically significant results. The self-perceived health and PRAM ANOVA shows significant scores on the Fear of death (F = 4.392 and p = 0.004) and Escape Acceptance (F = 5.208 and p = 0.001). Scheffe post hoc test shows that the weight of the ANOVA significance lies in comparisons between Good and Very good ((I-J) =0.35229 and p = 0.032) in the Fear of death and between Neither good nor bad& Good ((I-J) = 0.55507 and p = 0.046) and Neither good nor bad & Very good ((I-J) = 0.71534 and p = 0.008) in Escape acceptance. Regarding the 10 components of the PIV values and attitudes toward death of PRAM, the Pearson correlation provides statistically significant results in the matches: - Neutral Acceptance and Universalism (r = 0.199); - Neutral Acceptance and Benevolence (r = 0.104), Approach acceptanceand Benevolence (r = 0.082) and Escape Acceptance and Benevolence (r = -0.08); - Fear of death and Tradition (r = 0.191), to death Avoidance and Tradition (r = 0.202), Neutral acceptance and Tradition (r = -0.116), Approach acceptance and Tradition (r = 0.407), Escape acceptance and Tradition (r = 0.087) - Fear of death and Conformity (r = 0.176), to deathAvoidance and Conformity (r = 0.213), Neutral acceptance and Conformity (r = -0.122), and Conformity Approach acceptance (r = 0.266) and Escape acceptance and Conformity (r = 0.092) - Fear of death and Security (r = 0.225), to death Avoidance and Security (r = 0.236),Neutral Acceptance and Security (r = -0.076), Approach acceptance and Security (r = 0.16), Escape acceptance and Security (r = 0.088) - Fear of death and Power (r = 0.088) and Escape acceptance and Power (r = 0.105) - To death Avoidance and Hedonism (r = 0.097), Neutral Acceptance and Hedonism (r = 0.091) and Escape acceptance and Hedonism (r = -0.108) - Neutral Acceptance and Stimulation (r = 0.161) - Fear of death and Self-direction(r = -0.095), Neutral acceptance and Self-direction (r = 0.202) and Approach acceptance and Self-direction (r = -0.094). As for PIV values refer, Young adolescents scored the highest in Hedonism (5.1162) and lowest in Power (3.1595) in the group of Adolescents, the rated value is Hedonism 5, 2941 average and the least valued is Powerwith 2.9735. With regard to the age group of Young adults is Benevolence with an average of 5.2692, while the lowest score value obtained is the Power with an average of 3.2205 in the age group of Adults, the highest average score obtained is the Benevolence value (5.2023), however Power (3.0878) which is the lowest average score obtained. The ANOVA performed between the PRAM and the existence of previous experiences shows a single significant relationship in the variable Fear of death (F = 4.359 and p = 0.037). Performed an ANOVA of PRAM and Family found dead closest there is no significant covariance between the degree of family closeness of the deceased and response in attitudes towards death. By sex, death by drowning is the Most feared form of death in Women (n = 150, 27.42%) compared to Males (n = 69, 26.03%), followed by fire or burning (n = 128, 23.40% in Women n = 34 = 12.83% in Males). For the Least feared form of death chosen by Women (n = 177, 32.71%) would be the death asleep, followed by sudden death (n = 44, 8.13%). Men chosen as the first option the least feared form of death (n = 37, 13.91%) death by a gunshot, followed by sleeping death (n = 34, 12.78%). By age group for Young adolescents the Most feared form of death is drowned (n = 51, 21.16%) followed by tortured or killed by violent death (n = 35,14.52%) for Adolescents is equally , drowning (n = 57, 26.39%) followed by a fire or bum (n = 43, 19.91%), for Young adults drowning (n = 73, 33.95%) and second place in a fire or bum (n = 48, 22.32%) and for Adults to die in a fire or burn (n = 44, 30.34%) and drowned (n = 41, 28.27%). In the age group of Young adolescents more often chosen as the Least feared death is asleep death (n = 39, 16.11%) and shot (n = 31, 12.88%) in the Adolescents is death while asleep (n = 59, 27.70%) followed by death naturally (n = 39, 18.31%) for Young adults slept death (n = 65, 30.52% ) and the "sweet death" (n = 22, 10.33%) and Adults, asleep death (n = 50, 34.72%) followed by suddenly (n= 15, 10.42%). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION More than half of the cases relate to the attitude of Neutral acceptance. This trend can be explained based on the consideration that the death remains taboo today, without avoiding the possibility of bias of central tendency. We can also see a great number of Women relate to the attitude of Fear of death and Avoidance, compared with Men who often develop more attitudes of Neutral Acceptance in which also Women scored high. Again these results lead us to believe in a possible bias resulting from the pejorative that still raises this issue, mainly in Males. On the other hand, female self-conscious expressiveness and emotionality might be behind the fact that Women submit this trend. Gender stereotypes and sexist patterns of parenting could also be acting in this regard. The results by age group we make a clear distinction between the two main periods of age, defining among Young adolescents and Adolescents, on the one hand and Young adults and Adults, on the other, as far as attitudes to death refers. This difference is towards attitudes Approach acceptance and Escape acceptance, less frequently in the younger age group. Acceptance is linked to the comprehension of the nature of death and therefore more expected in the higher age groups, characterized by greater maturity and abstract attitude. The analysis on the relationship of attitudes and personality variables show that there are certain relationships depending on the personality characteristic in question and attitudes toward death, being able to draw a profile of associated attitudes. We emphasize the role of Extraversión as a protective factor against the attitude of Escape acceptance. This attitude involves a component of search of death, when life is that disappoint and may be dangerous as it is related to suicidal behavior, hence the importance of Extraversión. We expected to find the protective factor of beliefs against the Fear of death and anxiety derivative thereof, especially taking into account that the main objective of the creation of religions is to solve the problem of fear caused by the awareness of our own mortality. However, we find a completely opposite behavior in terms of the relationship of attitudes toward death and beliefs, because beliefs are directly related and proportionally to the Fear of death. As for the variables Life satisfaction and Realistic optimism, we did not find the expected relationship between Life satisfaction and attitudes towards death, but there is another equally important result, since Life satisfaction seems to behave as a protective factor against the attitude of Escape acceptance, with implications to protection against suicidal behavior that this carries with it. On the other hand the behavior of Realistic optimism variable was not as expected and did not return significant results. In the same sense we mentioned earlier Self-perceived health status was found to be protective against the Escape acceptance, since high Self-perceived health status is inversely related to the attitude of Escape acceptance. However we expect to find a relationship of the same sign and proportionate with respect to Fear of death, but this does not occur proportionately. It seems that a good Self-perceived health status is inversely related to the attitude of Fear of death, however, this variable stops functioning as a protective factor in the following steps Very good health or Regular. Among the different values relations with attitudes toward death, both generally and taking into account the different subgroups are established, reflecting the fact that attitudes toward death and values are related. Of special interest are cut individualistic values, taking particularly important in younger age groups, compared to the values of solidarity that relate to the older age groups. As for the fact of having suffered a death in the immediate context, this seems to affect our attitudes toward death by increasing the Fear of death in people who report having experienced this kind of loss. It is very remarkable that, in this regard, Young adolescents who say they have experienced the loss of a close relative of the same generation in the last two years show high levels of acceptance of approaching. In this case we propose this attitude towards death as the most beneficial to the healthy development of our own mortal consciousness. This may stem from the fact that a death at these ages is an undesirable and painful death, which leads to a feeling of helplessness disguised acceptance. Kinship or closeness in age with the deceased do not speak variables that relate to our attitudes towards death. Nor appear to affect pre-election exchange experiences. A first approach to the choice of the most and least feared ways to die shows how there are some interesting differences in the modality of choice in terms of age, especially in the younger age group, and how the concept evolves good and bad death through the maturation of the individual.