Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: Terror Management TheoryErnest Becker (1973) postulated that the juxtaposition of biological processes promoting survival with the ability to recognize one's inevitable mortality creates an intense fear, or terror, of death.Becker's ideas have since become known as Terror Management Theory (TMT).Following the theory, knowledge of one's unavoidable end causes existential anxiety and produces a need for purpose, or a way to transcend death, such that there is meaning larger than our biological existence.TMT suggests that two types of processes, proximal and distal defenses, are initiated to counter the psychological impact of reminders of our mortality.Proximal defenses involve suppressing death related thoughts within the subconscious, while distal defenses involve manipulating views of self and the world such that one's value transcends mortality.Distal defenses involve the defense of a cultural worldview from which individuals derive meaning and hold some value and esteem.The worldview itself is protective, as in many cases it can provide individuals with the comfort offered by a potential afterlife, or can inspire the belief that one's life has meaning beyond their physical life (Wisman & Goldenberg, 2005).Specifically, one's worldview can provide a -meaningful existence‖ from which to view death (Hart, Shaver, & Goldenberg, 2005).
Author: Katie J. Chipman
Institution: Kent State University
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2605125886