EFFECTS OF DEATH EDUCATION ON CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS DEATH ANXIETY

One-hundred sixty-two adults varying in the extent to which they parti cipated in either didactic or experiential forms of death education ve rsus those who had no such exposure to death and dying-related issues completed both self-report measures of overt death fear as well as twe nty-five sentence completion stems assessing unconscious covert death fears. Data analysis suggested that in contrast to previous research, didactic death education was effective in altering death anxiety. Howe ver, such effects were restricted to measures of covert death fear. Th ese findings suggest that the previously reported moderate impact of d eath education on death attitudes may be a consequence of too much att ention to self-reported concerns, and that the effects of death educat ion may be much greater if more emphasis is placed on unconscious cove rt fears about one's mortality, wherein a didactic approach may yield more success.