When death knocks: Study explores life’s spookiest question

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Death, terror and anxiety might sound like ingredients for the perfect Halloween haunted house, but they are also the focus of a serious study on the meaning of life.

This spooky season, as ghosts, goblins and plastic skeletons pop up on lawns across the country, a study funded through the University of Florida College of Nursing’s Center for Palliative Care Research and Education was recently published in Palliative & Supportive Care that explores how thoughts of death affect us emotionally.

The researchers surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults in a 20-minute online study that included a subtle mortality reminder, the psychological equivalent of whispering “Boo!” Then they measured what psychologists call “death-thought accessibility,” a task in which participants complete word puzzles that can reveal whether thoughts of death are bubbling close to the surface.

But here is the twist: The expected rise in hidden death thoughts never appeared.

“It is possible the online format made the task too easy to brush off — more ‘Beetlejuice’ than ‘Exorcist,’” joked study co-author Diana Wilkie, Ph.D., R.N., the Prairieview Trust – Earl and Margo Powers Endowed Professor in the UF College of Nursing.

Still, the study delivered plenty of insight. People who felt lonely tended to worry more about death. In contrast, those who experienced personal growth or a sense of peace were less likely to fear the end.

Attachment styles also play a role: People with an avoidant attachment style, representing about 35% of the study respondents, who prefer to stay emotionally distant and self-reliant — reported feeling the least lonely and afraid of death. Just below them on the fear-of-death scale were those with secure attachment styles, accounting for approximately 57% of respondents.

Those most afraid of death, however, were the more than 8% of respondents who had an anxious attachment style — who want closeness but often fear rejection or abandonment.

The good news is that previously published studies measuring similar questions about mortality showed similar results, so most of us do not get too worked up about thoughts of death.

The takeaway? How we relate to others shapes how we relate to life’s ultimate reality.

“Relationships matter deeply in how we process mortality,” Wilkie said. “Feeling connected to others seems to be a key part of growing through the awareness of death rather than being paralyzed by it.”

Multiple studies have pointed to social connections, especially among senior adults, as being key to mental and physical health.

The team now hopes to refine its approach to mortality reminders and develop better tools to measure the unconscious ways people process death. The goal is to better understand how we can use that awareness not to fuel dread, but to deepen meaning, connection and purpose.

“Existential maturation does not take away the pain of loss,” said Linda Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D., a professor emeritus at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the study’s lead author. “But it can give people the psychological and relational resources to process that pain and live more fully.”

So, as you enjoy your candy corn and carved pumpkins this Halloween, consider that a little reminder of mortality might be just what we need — not to scare us, but to remind us to treasure each day.