Metaphorical image of death: personal aspect

Volume 9 (2024), No. 1, pp. 34–42

[ HISTORY OF AN EDUCATION ]

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Abstract:

The article presents the results of an empirical study of the content of metaphorical images of death among Russian boys and girls from the perspective of theme and temporal locus using the author’s version of the DPE (Death Personification Exercise) technique by R. Kastenbaum and R. Eisenberg. It was shown that approximately half of the death metaphors in a sample of undergraduate pedagogical students (N= 244, of which 63 boys and 181 girls, aged 17–19 years) were visually and conceptually vague, which were interpreted as referring to the time locus “after” and having a negative character. Personified images made up a fifth of all metaphors presented and were predominantly female and ageless, in contrast to the Anglo-American data, in which male images of middle and old age predominated. No positive metaphors of death were found in our sample. There were also no differences identified by gender. The scientific significance of the results obtained is justified by providing data for the development of diagnostic methods and putting forward hypotheses for further research into unconscious death attitudes and coping strategies with negative experiences in a situation of death confrontation.

Keywords:

death image, death personification, death anxiety, thanatopsychology

Authors:

Tatyana A. Gavrilova, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor, Specialist in Educational and Methodological Work, Far Eastern Federal University (Vladivostok, Russian Federation)

Tatyana V. Slinkova, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor, Vladivostok State University (Vladivostok, Russian Federation)

For citation:

Gavrilova T.A., Slinkova T.V. Metaphorical image of death: personal aspect. Social Competence, 2024, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 34–42. (In Russ.).

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