Department of Medical Rescue, Medical University of Gdańsk, 80-210 Gdańsk, Poland.
Department of Life Quality Research, Medical University of Gdańsk, 80-210 Gdańsk, Poland.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 May 2;19(9):5521. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19095521.
The study was based on the Terror Management Theory. This theory assumes that self-preservation and awareness of imminent death create the potential to trigger fear. The "culture buffer" can protect people from fear, and it is composed of two factors: personal views on world issues and self-esteem. The aim of the study was to show that exposure to content that increases the availability of thoughts about death causes changes in medical personnel (doctors, nurses, and paramedics) in areas such as self-esteem, mood, sense of agency, and communion.
The research was experimental. Standardized psychometric tests were used, including the Rosenberg self-esteem scale (RSE), the University of Wales Institution of Science and Technology) Mood Adjective Check List (UMACL), scales measuring agency and communion, and an additional questionnaire containing two types of text. Respondents were divided into two text groups: A (exposed to increased availability of thoughts of death) and B (neutral).
Reflection on death, triggered by the experimental manipulation of the independent variable (text version), did not modify mood (in groups of medical staff and students) or self-esteem of health care professionals but did modify scores on a single RSE item in the student's group. Moreover, age, income level, religious attitude, and belonging to a professional group had an impact on self-esteem, mood components, and other parameters but did not interact with the text group. Reflection on death modified the sense of agency and communion.
Exposure to content increasing the availability of thoughts of death led to observable effects possible to observe in all groups only after taking into account an additional factor, which turned out to be the religious attitude of the respondents in the experiment. Specific tools should be selected or developed for the needs of research on respondents working in health care.
本研究基于死亡恐惧管理理论。该理论假设自我保护和对死亡的意识可能引发恐惧。“文化缓冲”可以保护人们免受恐惧，它由两个因素组成：个人对世界问题的看法和自尊。本研究旨在表明，接触增加对死亡的思考的内容会导致医疗人员（医生、护士和护理人员）在自尊、情绪、能动性和共融感等方面发生变化。
该研究为实验性研究。使用了标准化的心理测量测试，包括罗森伯格自尊量表（RSE）、威尔士大学科学技术学院情绪形容词检查表（UMACL）、测量能动性和共融感的量表，以及一个包含两种类型文本的附加问卷。被试被分为两组文本：A（接触增加对死亡的思考的可用性）和 B（中性）。
实验操作的独立变量（文本版本）引发的对死亡的思考并没有改变医务人员和学生群体的情绪或健康专业人员的自尊，但确实改变了学生群体中 RSE 单项得分。此外，年龄、收入水平、宗教态度和专业群体归属对自尊、情绪成分和其他参数有影响，但与文本组没有交互作用。对死亡的思考改变了能动性和共融感。
接触增加对死亡思考的可用性的内容导致了可观察到的效应，仅在考虑到额外的因素后才能在所有组中观察到，而该因素在实验中被试的宗教态度。应该根据医疗保健工作者的研究需求选择或开发特定的工具。
