Content Analysis of Free-Response Narratives to Personal Meanings of Death among Chinese Children and Adolescents
2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 30; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/07481180500493385
ISSN1091-7683
AutoresShu Ching Yang, Shih‐Fen Chen,
Tópico(s)Optimism, Hope, and Well-being
ResumoThe study explores development of the concept of death among 204 Chinese children and adolescents and analyzes the relationships between death concept development and background variables. A coding manual for content analysis of death constructs adapted from R. A. Neimeyer et al. (1983 Neimeyer , R. A. , Fontana , D. J. , & Gold , K. ( 1983 ). A manual for content analysis of death constructs . Death Education , 7 , 299 – 320 . [CSA] [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) was used to classify each construct in the paragraphs written by participants regarding their views of death. The 6 categories most frequently identified were Internal Causality, Negative Emotion State, External Causality, Nonexistence, Negative Body State, and Existence. Death-related experiences did not significantly influence concepts regarding death, while significant differences emerged as a function of grade, gender, religion, and family death discussion for several death constructs. Compared with earlier American samples, Chinese children and adolescents identified less with choice and purposeful death constructs and were less likely to view death in terms of personal choice and morals or in terms of psychological or natural meaning. Whether the differences were due to cultural, methodological or age factors deserves further study. Finally, this study concludes with some recommendations for the future study of death constructs.
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