ABSTRACT
From the very beginnings of human existence, death has been an unpleasant fact of life, an event from which there is ultimately no escape and which most people regard as something to be feared and avoided for as long as possible. However, considering the present multicultural society in the United States, it becomes important to extend present findings concerning fear of death to different ethnic groups. Also, the number of older adults in the population is increasing dramatically, so it is important to determine the death fears of older ethnic groups. Before going on to compare fear of death among older African Americans and Whites, one first needs to consider whether older people in general do indeed fear death. Fear of death, or the anxiety associated with the anticipation of one’s death, is widely recognized as a universal and normal human characteristic.
