INVESTIGATION OF A TYPOLOGY OF LIFE AND DEATH AS AN INDICATOR OF QUALITY-OF-LIFE

A typology of life and death was investigated in relation to employmen t characteristics, comparisons, work orientation, and depressive sympt oms among funeral directors. Even though conceptions of life and death are a part of the same life cycle, they often have been studied separ ately. Four types (positivists, temporal optimists, resigned futurists , and negativists) were differentiated by social-psychological attribu tes rather than by employment characteristics. Implications for practi ce are noted.