‘If death was a person’: Exploring death personification in terminally ill, chronically ill and healthy individuals

Pages: 137-141
Khyati Tripathi (Department of Psychology, University of Delhi, Delhi)

The present study is an attempt to explore death personification i.e. how death is perceived as a person by terminally ill, chronically ill and healthy individuals. The notion of death in the present study was explored using Kastenbaum and Aisenberg’s multiple choice questions about nature and image of death. Most participants visualized death as an old man (46.7per cent) and a gentle, well-meaning sort of a person (81.7per cent). The study explains the various responses in the light of the death anxiety expressed by the three groups as measured by Templer’s Death Anxiety Scale (1970) as well as empirical evidences provided by some of the traditional Hindu scriptures (such as Bhagavad-Gita, Mahabharata, & Garudapurana) as all participants belonged to the same faith group.