Objective To investigate the actual cognition and behavioral tendencies of the general public of different age groups regarding advance directives.Methods Based on the concept of "death literacy," a self-designed questionnaire was used to survey 444 participants from five evenly distributed age groups regarding their cognition and behavioral tendencies related to advance directives.Results The public generally recognizes the concept of advance directives and is willing to complete them, but the overall completion rate remains relatively low. Both the cognition of and behavioral tendencies toward advance directives show an increasing trend with age. Among these, the middle-aged and older group (50-59 years) had the highest completion rate as well as the highest proportion of those unwilling or uncertain, a phenomenon that can be explained by Mannheim"s concept of social generation and Elder"s Life Course.Conclusion Promoting advance directives is necessary and urgent. Efforts should be made through multiple channels and pathways, especially by strengthening online publicity, highlighting motivating factors for completion, such as real-life cases of suffering at the end of life, and striving to improve the public"s death literacy. Additionally, promotion efforts should take into account the characteristics of different age groups.