Death-related attitudes of adolescent males and females

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Abstract
As society attempts to reduce sex stereotyping, it would be expected that male and female attitudes toward death would become similar. The purpose of this study was to measure various death-related attitudes of a group of adolescents and to determine if these attitudes remain sex related. A sample of 152 seventh, eighth, and ninth-grade males (N = 71) and females (N = 81) from a Washington, D.C., metropolitan-area junior high school completed the Likert-type instrument. Using the chi-square statistic it was found that males and females differed significantly on 11 of the 22 items on the survey. Generally, females more than males, were in favor of abortion, valued funerals, and were more concerned with what might happen to their body subsequent to death. Differences were also found in attitudes about capital punishment and life after death. However, no significant male-female differences were found in fear of death. It was concluded that differences in attitudes toward death generally are still consistent with traditional sex roles.

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