Big Five Personality Correlates of Death Anxiety: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Death anxiety is associated with numerous negative mental health outcomes. Understanding predictors of death anxiety can help in facilitating targeted interventions. The Big Five personality traits are well understood to influence individuals’ thoughts, attitudes and behaviours, but literature examining their relationship with death anxiety has not been systematically evaluated. A systematic search of six academic databases yielded 1,764 records. After screening these records for eligibility, 31 were included in the current review. Negative associations between death anxiety and conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness was observed across six studies each. Meta-analyses revealed moderate positive associations between death anxiety and neuroticism and a small negative association between death anxiety and extraversion. The current findings provide useful screening tools for targeting interventions at those who are more vulnerable to death anxiety, and subsequent mental health issues. Future research will aid in establishing whether other variables confound, mediate or moderate the relationship between them. Tadgh Connery's research is supported by the National University of Ireland through a Travelling Doctoral Studentship. notReviewed other