Seeing Death with More Equanimity: The Indirect Effect of Generativity on Death Acceptance Through Ego-Integrity

Abstract

In two studies with German adults aged 40 years or older, it was hypothesized that there is an indirect positive effect of generativity on death acceptance through ego-integrity: That is, generativity is positively associated with death acceptance in that it positively relates to ego-integrity, which positively relates to death acceptance. Study 1 (N = 312) confirms this hypothesis. Additional exploratory analyses, however, revealed that the indirect effect was not valid for younger participants. This difference could be attributed to a moderation effect of age on the relation between ego-integrity and death acceptance, which increased with age. Study 2 (N = 314) differentiates between neutral, approach, and escape acceptance. Again, analyses yielded the hypothesized indirect effect for neutral death acceptance. Moreover, there was a negative indirect effect for escape acceptance. For approach acceptance, no indirect effect emerged. Thus, although the overall results confirm an indirect positive effect of generativity on death acceptance through ego-integrity, which had previously been reported only for fear of death, the role of age in this context should further be examined.