The development of a measure assessing attitudes toward euthanasia is presented, where data gathered from over 400 young adults yielded a thirty item Likert scale with high internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Additionally, the discriminant validity of the scale was found in comparisons of those with death-related versus non-death-related experiences.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
HafenB. Q. and FrandsenK. J., Faces of Death: Grief, Dying, Euthanasia and Suicide, Morton, Englewood, Colorado, 1983.
2.
NagiM. H., Clinical Imperatives versus Ethical Commitments in Euthanasia: The Perspectives of Nurses, Loss, Grief, and Care, 4, pp. 99–128, 1990.
3.
ThrustJ. C.StewartC. S., and PaulusG. S., Effect of Parental Socialization on Student Nurses' Attitudes toward Euthanasia, Death Studies, 9, pp. 395–415, 1985.
4.
BosmannH. B.KayJ., and ConterE. A., Geriatric Euthanasia: Attitudes and Experiences of Health Professionals, Social Psychiatry, 22, pp. 1–4, 1987.
5.
WaxmanH. M.AstrumS.NorbergA., and WinbaldB., Conflicting Attitudes toward Euthanasia for Severely Demented Patients of Health Care Professionals in Sweden, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 36, pp. 397–401, 1988.
6.
ShumanC. R.FournetG. P.ZelhartP. E.RolandB. C., and EstesR. E., Attitudes of Registered Nurses toward Euthanasia, Death Studies, 16, pp. 1–5, 1992.
7.
SugarmannD. B., Active versus Passive Euthanasia: An Attributional Analysis, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 16, pp. 60–76, 1986.
8.
WingetC.KappF. T., and YeaworthR. C., Attitudes toward Euthanasia, Journal of Medical Ethics, 3, pp. 18–25, 1977.
9.
LesterD.HadleyR. A., and LucasW. A., Personality and Pro-death Attitude, Personality and Individual Differences, 11, pp. 1183–1185, 1990.
10.
Prakasa-RaoV. V.StatenF., and NandiniR. V., Racial Differences in Attitudes toward Euthanasia, Euthanasia Review, 2, pp. 260–277, 1988.
11.
WadeC. H. and AnglinM. D., Factors Influencing Decisions to Terminate Life, Social Biology, 34, pp. 37–46, 1987.
12.
OstmeimerJ. M. and MooreC. L., The Correlates of Attitudes toward Euthanasia Revisited, Social Biology, 28, pp. 145–149, 1981.
13.
FariaY. S., Attitudes of Doctors and Lawyers toward Euthanasia, Arquivos Brasileiros de Psicologia, 41, pp. 44–61, 1989.
14.
NelsonW. A. and BernatJ. L., Decisions to Withhold or Terminate Treatment, Neurologic Clinics, 7, pp. 759–774, 1989.
15.
HuberR.CoxV. M., and EdelenW. B., Right-to-Die Responses from a Random Sample of 200, The Hospice Journal, 8, pp. 1–19, 1992.
16.
CorrC. A.NabeC. M., and CorrD. M., Death and Dying, Life and Living, Brooks-Cole, Pacific Grove, California, 1994.
17.
CrowneD. and MarloweD., A New Scale of Social Desirability Independent of Psychopathology, Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24, pp. 349–354, 1960.