Intrinsic religious motivation and attitudes toward death among the elderly

Forty-five males and females ages 65 and older completed the Intrinsic Religious Motivation Scale, a measure of faith development (based on Fowler, 1981), and two multidimensional measures of death anxiety (the Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale-Revised and the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale). Individuals with intrin-sic religious motivation reported significantly lower levels of various types of death anxiety than did individuals with extrinsic religious motivation. No significant rela-tionships were found between stage of faith and attitudes toward death and dying.