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The will to live and death-related decline in life satisfaction
Sara Carmel1, Amit Shrira2, Dov Shmotkin3
1Department of Sociology of Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Guiron University of the Negev.
Abstract:
This study examined the relationship between the will to live (WTL) and death-related decline in life satisfaction in 382 decedents who participated in a national 3-wave study (mean age at study entry 79 years). Growth-curve models revealed that distance to death was more predictive of declines in life satisfaction than chronological age. WTL moderated, but did not mediate, death-related decline in life satisfaction. Those with high WTL did not show a decrease in life satisfaction as death approached. This study highlights an important motivational construct, WTL, which regulates life satisfaction when death approaches.
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