Do Our Expectations Influence the Timing of Our Death?

The common-sense notion that we need a "reason for living" has received some scientific support.  After checking the death dates of over 1200 famous Americans, Philips and Feldman (1973) found that death came least often during the month before their birthdays and most frequently during the three months afterwards.  Deaths among the general population appear to follow a similar pattern.  Using a random sample sample of obituaries listed in a Salt Lake City newspaper, Kunz and Summers (1980) also found that the percentage of deaths was highest in the first three months after a person's birthday and decreased progressively during the remainder of the year.

While anticipating a significant event may help an aged or terminally ill person to live longer, it is the quality of that expectation or the personal meaning of an anticipated event that is all-important.  Thus, what helps a person prolong his or her life may vary considerably from one person to another.  For example, some observers have found a marked decline in the death rate among Jews both in Budapest and New York City just before Yom Kippur, the high holy day of atonement.  The dramatic expectation that comes with national presidential elections in the United States has been accompanied by a marked decline in the death rate as well.  It is also interesting that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on July 4, fifty years after the Declaration of Independence (Philips & Feldman, 1973).