Kovalenko-Kobylianska I. Psychological factors of attitude of the elderly to death.

Thesis is devoted to the attitude of an individual to personal natural death (depletion of specific limit) and identifying factors that influence the perception of nonexistence of personal being in the final period of gerontogenesis (85-109 years). The effect of such factors as age, gender differences, marital status, level of education, religiosity and locus of control was theoretically justified, practically tested and hierarchically determined. External orientation of the person (the degree of religiosity) was identified as a key criterion. For the first time the psychological impact of socio-cultural environment was studied, and patterns of behavior as well as stages of formation in an individual of adequate attitude to the personal natural death were identified. A program providing specific physiological support in the final period of ontogenesis depending on the level of cognitive complexity of an individual and his world view was developed.