Table of Contents
Title Page i
Approval Page ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgement v
Table of Contents vi
List of Tables viii
Abstract ix
CHAPTER ONE: Introduction
Background to the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 4
Purpose of the Study 5
Research Question 6
Hypotheses 6
Significance of the Study 7
Scope of the Study 9
CHAPTER TWO: Review of Related Literature
Conceptual Framework 10
- Death 10
- Attitude 16
- Measurement of attitude 19
Theoretical Framework 22
- Theory of cognitive dissonance 22
- Theory of reasoned action 22
Empirical Studies on Attitude towards Death 25
Summary of Literature Review 33
CHAPTER THREE: Methods
Research Design 35
Area of the Study 35
Population for the Study 36
Sample and Sampling Techniques 36
Instrument for Data Collection 36
- Validity of instrument. 36
- Reliability of instrument. 37
Method of Data Collection 37
Method of Data Analysis 37
CHAPTER FOUR: Results and Discussion
Results 39
Summary of Major Findings 56
Discussion of Findings 57 Dimensions of death fear. 57
Age differences on the attitude towards death. 60
Gender differences on the attitude towards death. 62
CHAPTER FIVE: Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation
Summary 66
Conclusion 67
Recommendations 68
References 70
Appendix 1 Lists of Secondary Schools in Nsukka Education Zone 76
Appendix 11 Questionnaire 81
Appendix 111 Original MFODS by J. W., Hoelter 85
List of Tables
- Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of Dying (n=94)
- Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of the Dead (n=94)
- Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of being Destroyed (n=94)
- Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of Significant Others (n=94)
- Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of the Unknown (n=94)
- Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of Conscious Death (n=94)
- Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of Body After Death (n=94)
- Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of Premature Death (n=94)
- Differences in the Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of Dying according to Age (n=94)
- Differences in the Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of the Dead according to Age (n=94)
- Differences in the Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of being Destroyed according to Age (n=94)
- Differences in the Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of Significant Others according to Age (n=94)
- Differences in the Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of the Unknown according to Age (n=94)
- Differences in the Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of Conscious Death according to Age (n=94)
- Differences in the Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of Body after Death according to Age (n=94)
- Differences in the Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of Premature Death according to Age (n=94)
- Differences in the Attitude of Secondary school Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of Dying according to Gender (n=94)
- Differences in the Attitude of Secondary school Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of the Dead according to Gender (n=94)
- Differences in the Attitude of Secondary school Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of being Destroyed according to Gender (n=94)
- Differences in the Attitude of Secondary school Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of Significant Others according to Gender (n=94)
- Differences in the Attitude of Secondary school Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of the Unknown according to Gender (n=94)
- Differences in the Attitude of Secondary school Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of Conscious Death according to Gender (n=94)
- Differences in the Attitude of Secondary school Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of Body after Death according to Gender (n=94)
- Differences in the Attitude of Secondary school Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Fear of Premature Death according to Gender (n=94)
- Summary of ANOVA analysis of No Significant Difference on the Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Death according to Age
- Summary of t-Test analysis of No Significant Difference on the Attitude of Secondary School Physical and Health Education Teachers towards Death according to gender
Abstract
Death, a natural
phenomenon, is the permanent loss of human life. The study examined the attitude
of secondary school physical and health education teachers in Nsukka education
zone towards death with a view of investigating the dimensions of death fears.
In line with the objectives of the study, ten research questions and two
corresponding hypotheses were formulated. Related literature were also reviewed
and descriptive survey research design was utilized for the study. The
population for the study consisted of all the secondary school physical and health
education teachers in Nsukka education zone of Enugu state. A total of 94
subjects were sampled. Questionnaire was used as instrument for data
collection. Face validity of the instrument was ensured through constructive
criticism of five experts. Data generated were analyzed using mean scores and
standard deviation while analysis of variance and t-test were used to test the
two null hypotheses on age and gender at .05 level of significance. The
findings showed that differences exist on the attitudes of the subjects towards
death according to age and gender but the differences were not statistically
significant. Based on the findings, it was concluded that secondary school
physical and health education teachers in Nsukka education zone have negative
attitude towards death.
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
Background to the Study
Death is a natural phenomenon that is unavoidable, unstoppable, inescapable and inevitable in human life. Every living creature that has a beginning must at last come to an end. There is no individual, family or community that can claim ignorant of the existence of death. Almost everybody does have some fears or feelings about his or her own death. In Nigeria, as in some other cultures, people are known to be afraid of death. This fear influences ones attitude towards this concept. Unfortunately, death is unpredictable; it may come upon a person suddenly and unexpectedly or may be long-awaited (Durosaro, 1996). Death as noted by Knight, Elfenbein and Capozzi (2000) is considered as a topic most difficult to discuss, conceive or dealt with in any sense. Hence, everyone is afraid of death and fears to talk about it. However, there are a lot of views about death among individuals and societies. Among the Yorubas, there is the strong belief that death of a young person is caused by witches and wizards, the Igbos believed that death of a young person must have been, due to “Ogbanje” the born to die or “Owumiri” that is associated with the water spirit and the Hausas believed that some evil forces must have been at work when a young person dies (Durosaro, 1996). These views on death affect ones belief, thought and emotion.
Kim and Lee (2003) noted that death is inevitable in human being and hence has been studied in many disciplines. Research has shown that many people have difficulty dealing with issue of death (Mallory, 2003). Dealing with issue of death requires the maintenance of emotional balance together with scientific skills and accurate perception (De Araujo, Da Silva, & Francisco, 2004). Also, it requires knowing personal attitude towards death since attitude influences one’s behaviour. Ungureanu & Sandberg (2008) asserted that dealing with the issues of death generally can be a risk factor for healthcare personnel. According to Gauthier (2008), death occurrence often stirs up strong emotion in individuals such as sorrow (Ungureanu & Sandberg, 2008), helplessness and anxiety (Weigel, Parker, Fanning, Reyna & Gasbarra, 2007), feelings of frustration and loss (Brajtman, Fothergill-Bourbonnais, Cassey, Alain & Fiset, 2007), depression and anger (Weigel, Parker, Fanning, Reyna & Gasbarra, 2007) and guilt (LeSergenta & Haneyb, 2005). No one can ever escaped death (Mallory, 2003).
