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Death the Worm at the Core - Role of Death in Life - Coggle Diagram
Death the Worm at the Core - Role of Death in Life
Critique of Psychology
Origins of Critique
Rise of social cognition
Mind as computer
Neglect of role of motives/emotions
Mind-Theory
Concern intricate phenomena
No broad qs about humans
Intricate Phenomena
Why people need self-esteem?
Why need to feel understanding of world is correct
Why people struggle to peacefully co-exist?
Self-Esteem
Manage existential terror/death anxiety
Have self-value & make meaningful contribution
Less death anxiety
Have made meaningful contribution
Have immortality in some way
Understanding of World
If understanding not correct then foundations of self-esteem also incorrect
Compromises how to become person of value
Defends against existential terror
Need to feel worldview correct for it to effectively manage
People Can't Peacefully Co-Exist
Diff people have diff worldviews
Threatens own worldview & therefore self-esteem
When confronted w. people diff to us if they are right you must be wrong
Difficult to accept that other's belief system may be the right one
Alt worldviews undermine validity of own in managing existential terror
Posit them as being morally incorrect & the people holding them as less human so can worry less about the terror
Try to convince to see error of ways, shed their beliefs & join own
War is attempt to destroy other to prove own belief system the right one
Terror Management Theory
Terror Management Theory (Greenberg et al., 1986)
Existential terror influenced by three factors
Bio desire for self-preservation
Awareness of inevitability of death
Cultural worldviews & self-esteem (to mitigate & give promise of immortality)
Central goal to transcend death
Literally/symbolically
Condense Becker's work into framework that can be measured & tested
Intellectual Roots (Becker)
Wanted to find the nature/essence of being human
Synthesised works of other scholars combined w. background in anthropology
The more they converge into a series of features the more credibility that theory can be given
Humans evolutionarily predisposed toward survival
Humans acutely aware of death
Unique human awareness of death would be psychologically debilitating
Humans manage problem through culture
Other Scholars
Kierkegaard
Rank
Freud
Darwin
Kierkegaard
Human beings so smart that we have come to know we exist
Makes sig complicated cog status to recognise we exist
Renders uniquely human emotions
Dread
Intelligence of knowing we exist means we know that life is finite
Awareness of Death
Inevitable & magnified by knowledge it is out of our control
Can occur at any time
For reasons could not predict
Reminder humans are merely animals
Awe
Remarkably uplifting to exist know exist
Darwin
Evolutionary theory
Living things like to stay alive (self-preservation & reproduction)
Surivival
Confirmed evolutionary theory
Also acknowledged humans unique & remarkable
Come up w. ideas & render them real
Response to Inevitability
At minimum an uncomfortable realising
At most paralysing
Need means to manage problem
Through same cog capabilities that got them there in the first place
Capabilities
Abstract beliefs & systems
Want to persist across time & space
Culture belief systems
Sense life has meaning & purpose vs chaotic
See reality around us through lense that gives inherent understanding & order of how world works & past/present/future interconnected
Make us people of value
Management Through Culture
Sense we live in world of 'meaning'
That we are people of 'value'
Gives standards of conduct
If achieve/go beyond have sense are contributing to world
Example: Cultures
Literal immortality
Religion
Symbolic immortality
Building legacy
Having children
Cultural Differences (Wakimoto, 2006)
TMT emphasises importance of culture as basis for self-esteem
Diff defences depending on cultural context
Study: MS & Japanese Worldview (Wakimoto, 2006)
Bg: Emphasises harmonious relationships & modesty of own success
Q: Attitude toward success; Evaluation of self & friend
M: Manipulate MS
R: MS increased - attitudes toward success
Increased humility
Western Worldview
Praise a good thing
Bolster self & diminish friend
Japanese Worldview
Praise taken more modestly
Bolster friend & diminish self
Terror Management Theory Hypothesis
TMT the triangulation of diff hypotheses
Diff psychologists prioritise certain/mix of hypotheses (Pyszczynski et al., 2015)
Hypotheses
Mortality salience hypothesis
Anxiety buffer hypothesis
Death thought accessibility hypothesis
Mortality Salience Hypothesis
Assumption psych structure manages death-related concerns
So reminders for death should heighten need for that structure
Cling onto idea of death when reminded of mortality
Most prominent hypothesis
Example: Typical Experiment
Cover story
Complete some filler personality measures
Answer MS manipulation disguised as personality assessment vs control
Reminded of mortality vs not reminded/reminded about other concept
Complete filler materials to act as delay
Measures residual concepts of death when not in forefront of mind
Assessment of dependent measure of interest taken
Study: Effects Summarised
Meta-analysis of 825 MS studies (Chen et al., 2025)
Evidential value
r
= .18 shows there is small but sig effects
Issues w. publication bias & lack of power (small samples) mean unreliable estimates of effects
So is evidence but need to fix issues to determine how sig of effects
Notable failed replications (Klein et al., 2022)
Failed Replication (Klein et al., 2022)
Bg: Replication of Greenberg et al. (1994) using Many Labs 4
A: Examine influence of original author involvement
P: N=2220 in no author expertise (replication w. no personal guidance) & author expertise (author advised protocols)
M: Involvement vs no involvement
R: No evidence of MS on worldview defence
Regardless of author involvement
Explanation
May be reflection of cultural climate at time of replication
Trump effect
Chatard et al., 2020
Trump Effect
Pro-Trump may be more patriotic
Less pro-Trump may have been culturally disillusioned
Many Labs
Effort to replicate published scientific effects
Assess which conditions successful to replication
Many Labs 4 focused on author expertise
Implicit knowledge that not necessarily mentioned in methods
Ways to interact w. Ps
Explanations Driving Effects
-/aversive controls not produce same effect
Defence triggered by death not general - affect
Not explained by change in mood (Greenberg et
al., 1995; Lambert et al., 2014)
Rarely lead to increased fear/- affect/psych arousal
If does lead to increased does not explain treatment of others
Occur after delay outside conscious awareness
Explained by dual process model
Dual-Process Model (Pyszczynski et al., 1999)
For managing death thoughts
Subliminal/subtle death primes elicit distal defences immediately (Arndt et al., 1997)
Process
Death stimuli
Proximal defence
Distal defence
Death Stimuli
Explicit death reminder
MS
Terrorism
Proximal Defence
Conscious management
Occurs immediately
Pseudo-rational/suppression-based
Convince self not to be concerned right now
Defend by offsetting/minimising behaviour
1 more item...
Distal Defence
Non-conscious management
Occurs after delay
Symbolic worldview/self-esteem bolstering
Strive for self-esteem
Defend worldview
Study: Flashing Words (Arndt et al., 1997)
When word 'death' flashed on screen before conscious processing distal defence seen immediately
Bypass proximal defences
Study: Worldview Defence
Attitudinal measures
Behavioural measures
Field Experiments
Naturally occurring death reminders
Adherence to worldview
Attitudinal Measures
MS increased bail bond for sex worker by judges (vs control) in hypothetical case (Rosenblatt et al., 1989)
Violating law viewed as breaking cultural norms
Showed more punitive & negative when reminded of belief systems
MS increased preference for pro (vs anti) US author essay by students (Greenberg et al., 1994)
More willing to derregate & discriminate
Cultural settings
Intolerance for ethnicities (e.g. Germans for Turkish using seat choices, Indian for Pakistani)
Politics
Behavioural Measures (McGregor et al., 1998)
MS increased allocation of hot sauce to politically dissimilar (vs similar) others
Told tolerance of spice low for confederate & P chooses how much to give
Validated as measure for aggression
Field Experiments (Pyszczynski et al., 1996)
MS increased inflation of consensus estimates
Interview before/outside/after funeral home
Show can observe effects in naturally occurring reminder locations
Adherence to Worldview Norms (Greenberg et al., 1992)
Responses to MS depend on what is promoted w/in ones worldview
What belief system states/promotes/implies
Conducted two studies on diff worldviews
Political orientation
Tolerance prime
Political Orientation
P's: Conservative vs Liberal
M: Politically similar vs dissimilar targets
R: MS increased preference for similar targets for Conservative Ps
No effect of MS in Liberal Ps
Explanation
Liberal values emphasise equality & diversity
Tolerance Prime
M: Primed vs not primed w. reminders of tolerance; Pro vs anti author
R: MS increased preference for pro author when not primed w. tolerance
No effect when primed w. tolerance
Anxiety Buffer Hypothesis (Greenberg et al., 1992)
Assumes psych structure serves anxiety-buffering function
Fortifying structure should satisfy terror management needs & reduce need for further buffering strategies
Suggests when self-esteem enhanced, reduced need for further terror management
Study: Feedback & Death (Greenberg et al., 1992)
M: Bogus feedback on personality test; Watch death-related vs control video; Tested w. self-reports & physiological skin conductance reactions
R: Ps who watched death-related video has higher levels of self-report & psych anxiety
Unless self-esteem bolstered first
Bogus Feedback
Neutral
Some aspirations may be a bit unrealistic
+
Most aspirations tend to be pretty realistic
Barnham Effect
Vague feedback causes people to project selves into that
Study: Feedback & Evaluation (Harmon-Jones et al., 1997)
A: Evaluate authors of two essays
M: Bogus feedback on personality test; MS manipulation vs control; Pro & anti essays
R: MS increased preference for pro-US author when self-esteem not bolstered
No effect of MS when self-esteem bolstered
Affirming Immortality
Should show anxiety buffering effect
Reinforces transcending death goal of TMT
Study: Affirm Immortality
Possibility of afterlife (Dechesne et al., 2003)
Exposed to scientific info about life after death & consciousness exists vs nothing after death
MS salience manipulation
Buffering effect for worldview defence when told info
Feelings symbolic immortality (Florian & Mikulincer, 1998)
Reduces need for worldview defence
Indefinite medial life extension (Vail et al., 2019)
Exposed to scientific info that scientists on brink of finding way to extend life
Acted as buffer & reduced need for worldview defence
Death Thought Accessibility Hypothesis
Assumes psych structures manage death-related concerns
Threatening structures should temporarily heighten accessibility of death-related thoughts
Weakens anxiety buffer & unconsciously leaks death thoughts closer to consciousness
Never ask about death so percolates on consciousness immediately
Example: Typical Experiment
Word-stem completion task
More words completed w. death-related words the more accessible death is
Study: Worldview Threat (Schimel et al., 2007)
P: Canadian
M: National worldview threat for Canada vs Australia; Filled DTA measure
R: Increased DTA for own worldview threat
Increase immediate but fades w. delay
Increase not result of anger
Study: Self-Esteem Threat (Hayes et al., 2008)
A: Feedback on IQ test
M: +/-/Control feedback; Lexical decision task
R: Self-esteem threat increased DTA & accessibility of death through words
But not - thoughts through words
Lexical Decision Task
Unscramble words
Categorise into words & non-worlds
Measure response to categories of words
Death-related
Negative
Study: Meta-Analysis (Steinman & Updegraff, 2015)
A: Worldview threat effect on DTA as function of delay
P: 48 DTA experiments
R:
g
= .54; Thoughts available immediately but fade over time
Moderate effect size
Limitations to Evidence
Sample size
Stat power
Predicting Responses (Dechesne et al., 2003)
Defence that is used depends on what aspect of self/world-view
Currently most salient/accessible/psych pressing
Sense of self based on strong beliefs & priming
They play role in what defence comes to forefront
Fleeing the Body
Problem of Human Corporeality (Goldenberg et al., 2000)
Human body central in TMT
Because is subject to death & decay
Because are aware are ultimately animals
Go to lengths to deny it
Uncomfortable being in bodies & w. nature around us
Denial
Animal status
Imbue physical behaviours w. symbolic meaning
Act in ways that are refined
Sex as love not reproduction (humanly created)
Disgust to bodily function
Objectification of bodies
Obscure aging process
Human-Animal Similarity/Distinctiveness Hypothesis
Prefer info that confers human distinctiveness from animals
Rather than info that empahsises similarities
Study: MS & DS (Goldenberg et al., 2001)
M: Reminded of death vs dental pain; Read essays about similarity vs distinctiveness of animals; Given MS measure
R: MS & DS higher in distinct
More sig in MS
Study: Bodily function & control (Cox et al., 2007)
M: Primed to think of bodily function vs control; Read essays about similarity vs distinctiveness of animals; Given DTA measure
R: Bodily function higher in similarity
No sig diff for bodily control
Implications
People's view of women's bodies
Uncomfortable w. Nature (Becker)
If were comfortable then would never have created supernatural
Creation Story (Marino & Mountain, 2013)
Thousands of year old cave art shows time that respects nature
Empathy for prey
More modern cave art shows shift to separation of humans & animals
Animals smaller & below humans
Many creation stories that have similar themes
Idyllic world where humans live without shame
Creature convinces them to do something to gain ultimate knowledge but will also be touched by death
Depicts moment in time before self-awareness
Self-awareness & knowledge of death is like a fall from grace
Studies: Attitudes Toward Nature
MS increased preference for cultivated vs wild landscapes (Koole & Van den Berg, 2005)
MS increased dislike for animals (Bassett & Sonntag, 2010)
Also true of pet owners toward own pet by reserving symbolically human creations
Subliminal death priming increased support for killing animals (Lifshin et al., 2017)
Killing animals associated w. sense power & invulnerability
Study: Forest Management Game (Kasser & Sheldon, 2000)
Bg: Scenario w. yours & 3 other companies harvesting timber; Forest have 2000 acres of land; Each year companies decide how many hectares to cut down; Forest regenerates at 10%
Overlogging = Forest wiped out
Underlogging = Business fail & get wiped out
A: Need to cut down as many trees as can so company will thrive; Measure reasons for decision
M: MS vs control
R: MS increased resource exploitation & desire for greed
But not fear
Reasons for Decision
Desire to make more profit
Greed
Expectation of others
Fear
Environmental Implications
Worldviews that promote pro-enviornmental norms should improve behaviour
People seek to live up to values the worldview prescribes
Types of Implications
Environmental contingent self-esteem
Extent self-esteem related to environmental behaviours
Situation environmental norms
Studies: Environmental Contingent Self-Esteem
MS & environmental concern (Vess & Arndt, 2008)
Death primes & animal attitudes (Fairlamb et al., 2023)
Replicated Lifshin et al (2017)
But in certain conditions when related to self-esteem also promoted helping animals
Situational Environmental Norms (Fritsche et al., 2010)
MS increased preference for environmentally friendly products & decisions
Experimenter either littered or cleaned up laboratory while doing MS manipulation
When primed w. cleaning & recycling were more likely to make environmentally friendly decisions