From Confused Reflections to Life Awareness: A Narrative Reconstruction of Death's Significance in the Life World of Higher Education Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53797/ujssh.v4i1.29.2025Keywords:
death education, higher education students, narrative research, life’s meaning, inner experiencesAbstract
This study adopts a narrative research approach to investigate the inner experiences and meaning-making processes of higher education students when confronted with the subject of death. Through in-depth interviews with five participants, the study uncovers the cognitive and emotional progression that higher education students undergo in engaging with death-related topics. This progression spans from initial confusion and avoidance to gradually understanding and accepting death, ultimately leading to an awakening of life’s significance. The findings reveal that discussions about death not only evoke emotional reactions but also facilitate the construction of personal meaning within the narrative of death. This research provides fresh insights into death education and psychological counseling for higher education students, offering practical guidance for the effective implementation of death education initiatives.
References
Chen, X. (2002). Qualitative Research in Social Sciences. Wu Nan Publishing Co.
de la Herrán Gascón, A. (2022). Beyond death education from preschool education: Towards a radical and inclusive pedagogy? Research on Preschool and Primary Education, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.55976/rppe.1202311311-4
Dimkpa, A. C. (2023). Confronting finality: Cognitive and cultural perspectives on death. Open Journal of Philosophy, 13(2), 183–194. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojpp.2023.132012
Folkerds, A. S., & Coursol, D. (2024). Death anxiety. In Advances in Educational Marketing, Administration, and Leadership Book Series (pp. 57–77). https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-1375-6.ch003
Kalashnikova, O., Leontiev, D., Rasskazova, E., & Taranenko, O. (2022). Meaning of life as a resource for coping with psychological crisis: Comparisons of suicidal and non-suicidal patients. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 957782.
Islam, R., & Sayeed Akhter, M. (2022). Narrative inquiry, phenomenology, and grounded theory in qualitative research. In Principles of Social Research Methodology (pp. 101-115). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.
Prabhu, G. B., Pandey, V., Jeyavel, S., & Rajgopal, G. (2022). Would you mind sharing your story? A narrative exploration of incivility experiences in the information technology workplace. Information Technology & People, 36, 1160–1178. https://doi.org/10.1108/itp-10-2021-0759
Rajapakse, R. P. C. (2024). Death anxiety and the role of psychological interventions towards positive management. PsyArXiv Preprints. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/zd4uf
Scheibelhofer, E. (2008). Combining narration‐based interviews with topical interviews: Methodological reflections on research practices. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 11(5), 403-416.
Steffen, E., & Coyle, A. (2011). Sense of presence experiences and meaning-making in bereavement: A qualitative analysis. Death Studies, 35(7), 579-609.
Sirrine, E. H., Kliner, O., & Gollery, T. J. (2021). College student experiences of grief and loss amid the COVID-19 global pandemic. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228211027461
Varga, M. A., & Balk, D. E. (2022). Development and validation of the Holistic Grief Effects Instrument for bereaved college students. Journal of College Student Development, 62, 607–613. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2021.0056
Zhanykulov, N. (2022). The phenomenon of death and immortality: Analysis from the point of view of the philosophy of religion. Alʹ-Farabi, 80(4), 136–150. https://doi.org/10.48010/2022.4/1999-5911.12
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Wang Yanling, Adenan Ayob, Zulkeflee Yaacob

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.