ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

The purpose of this study is to explore middle-aged women’s experience of death anxiety, to help them develop more existential middle-age and old-age attitudes, and to provide vivid information about middle-aged women’s death anxiety to counselors assisting these women, To achieve this research objective, the research question set up as “What is the death anxiety experienced by middle-aged women, and what is its intrinsic meaning?” To this purpose the study adopted van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenon research method among qualitative research methods and collected data through in-depth interviews with a female participant in her 50s to define the essential meaning of middle-aged women’s experience of death anxiety. The study defined 3 main themes of middle-aged women’s experience of death anxiety; ‘body thrown into the time boundary between life and death,’ ‘passing through the unknown world, carrying the weight of relationship’ and ‘living as a true adult with the wisdom of time.’ The intrinsic meaning of middle-aged women’s experience of death anxiety was defined as “the process of being existentially matured through existential crises.” The study was meaningful, first as it provides basic data to help counseling for middle-aged women experiencing death anxiety with analysis and understanding on their experiences from a phenomenological perspective. Second, the qualitative research was conducted focusing on middle-aged women, moving away from the quantitative study of the elderly’s anxiety about death. Third, it can be used as a basic material for developing death education programs for middle-aged women. The study also presented limitations of the research and suggestions for follow-up studies.

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