Death attitudes and volunteering motives of youth during the flood in Kerala, India.

Kerala had witnessed a massive disaster in the form of a flood in 2018. The collective efforts and contribution of the youth in rescuing and rehabilitation were notable. OBJECTIVES: The current investigation aims to gauge the connection between death attitudes, volunteering motives, and sociodemographic variables among youth in Kerala. METHOD: The 150 participants who had volunteered to offer help in flood relief camps and rehabilitation programs from 3 districts in Kerala were given Voluntary Function Inventory (Clary et al., 1998) and Death Attitude Profile-Revised (Wong et al., 1994). RESULTS & CONCLUSION: Results of the study suggest that neutral acceptance of death attitude is positively related to volunteering motives. Likewise, volunteering motives vary significantly according to gender, marital status, socioeconomic status, and health perception, while death attitude differs significantly based on religion. This study directly implies terror management theory, which states that when reminded of their mortality, people intensify the desire to express culturally prescribed prosocial attitudes and engage in more volunteering behaviors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).