ON DEATH AND DYING AND OUR MINDS

What does „existential“ mean?

Existential philosophy: Heidegger, Scheler, Marcel, Sartre, Camus, Leo Gabriel, Kierkegaard,

Lersch, etc.

Existential psychology / psychiatry: Binswanger, Boss, Moreno, Frankl, May, Yalom,

Ernest Becker, Greenberg, Solomon und Pyszczynski

Topics:

Search for meaning freedom

coherence authenticity

self actualisation

finding / understanding our place in the world

ExPhil: by philosophical inquiry ExPsych: as a way of living, experiencing, and behaving

(Ex-sistere: to step out, to rise above) Looking at your life means: looking at something finite. Questions of Life = Questions about Death. Exist.Phil: Our awareness of mortality raises human beings to Dasein = metaphysischer Ernst (Scheler) = Kierkegaard / Heidegger: Being towards death / Das Sein zum Tode

Man is being-towards-death (Kierkegaard /Heidegger)

“and being-towards-death is essentially Angst. “

= existential Angst as basic existential experience (Grunderfahrung / Grundverfasstheit)

= we know about our transitoriness,

and yet, everything in us revolts against it.

„Nothingness as anticipation of our own death gives birth to Angst [as the ground of our being.].“

„Nothingness as anticipation of our own death gives birth to Angst [as the ground of our being.].“

Psychological Questions: 1. Is this an accurate assessment? 2. How would this look like?

Empirical Question:

(How) does the awareness of our eventual death and decay effect our everyday life

and behaviour?

The Role of Death Awareness in Human Psychology

Ernest Becker (1924–1974)

the problem of man

Becker‘s basic problem of human existence:

Two things define us:

a. “Survival Instinct“ / Self-Preservation

b. Awareness of the Inevitability of our Death (Death will always be victorious)

Becker (1973): To be someone. To have a name. A sense of self and a longing for life and self-expression.

Becker (1973): To be someone. To have a name. A sense of self and a longing for life and self-expression. And yet: To die.

Desire for Self-Preservation (shared with other animals)

Cognitive Abstraction (unique to humans)

Annihilation anxiety Awareness of the inevitability of death

POTENTIAL TERROR ANXIETY FRIGHT

FEAR

Terror Management Theory (Ernest Becker)

Terror -> Panic

Managament -> Dealing with

Theory

Becker (1973):

The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is a mainspring of human activity - designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny of man.

Becker (1973):

Awareness, and even fear, of death must be present in our everyday lives so that the organism protects itself against it.

Becker (1973):

At the same time, the knowledge of our inevitable death cannot be constantly in the focus of our attention; for otherwise, the organism would be mortified in terror.

Becker (1973):

At the same time, the knowledge of our inevitable death cannot be at the focus of our attention; for otherwise, the organism would be mortified in terror.

But the truth is: All our striving is doomed to fail. There is no self-preservation. Only a delay perhaps. Hence the existential dilemma.

To sum it up:

. All of us will die.

. Death may strike any time.

. Potential terror whenever we let ourselves think about it realistically

. We have to manage the potential terror of death awareness in order to survive.

How do we manage the underlying fears?

Defend against death

against annihilation fear

against the existential dilemma

Three Defense Routes against death:

Rationalisation (i.e. death is far away, let me live first)

Repression (i.e. don‘t think about death)

Identification (i.e. submerge your self with something which is less vulnerable)

Family, Country, Church, …

1 Repression:

How often do we think about our inevitable death?

How often do we think about the existential dilemma?

… our vulnerability?

2 Rationalisation:

I‘m still young, this won‘t be for me for a while.

I‘ll think about it later.

Yes, this is serious, but not now.

I am very busy.

I‘ll live healthy and live long.

Repression and Rationalisation is not enough.

Often fails.

Route 3: Identification with Ideology and Group:

Makes sense of reality, randomness, death, suffering,

and/or offers literal immortality

or at least shares my values and is more enduring than I am

and hence offers symbolic immortality

= „Anxiety Buffer“ / Cultural Worldview Defense

Cultural Worldview Defense:

Our Nation “Race“ Our Culture Our Church Our God(s) Our Prophet The Messiah Our People Our Social Class

Our Leader Our Party Our Ideology

as anxiety buffers against potential terror

Some faces of the „ultimate truth“:

Hint: Look at how serious these people are. They are dealing with matters of birth and death.

Becker (1973): To be someone. To have a name. A sense of self and a longing for life and self-expression. And yet: To die.

Identification / Cultural World Views: But: Being part of the group is not enough: 1. You have to be a recognized part of the group.

2. You learn this from childhood on. It becomes automatized, i.e.

unconscious.

3. Automatic connection: death > protection seeking by identifying with your family, group, and their values.

.well-learned defense mechanism .automatic (uncontrolled) .unconscious, i.e. outside of conscious awareness.

Problem: When you see that „your group“ is but one of many ways to make sense of reality, its protective force is endangered. You realize that your cultural worldview is just one among many. You devalue the other worldview = Intolerance. But if the other worldview is only a human construct, how do you know that yours is any better? = Defense

Prediction: Being reminded of death, people will rationalize, repress death thoughts then become less tolerant of other worldviews or more defensive/aggressive when their worldviews are challenged.

Prediction: Being reminded of death, people will rationalize, repress death thoughts; and then become less tolerant of other worldviews or more defensive/aggressive when their worldviews are challenged.

The Terror Management Process in a nutshell 1. Remind someone of his mortality. 2. He will rationalize death away, 3. then he will repress his death thoughts

4. but now, identification (symbolic immortality) 5. i.e. intolerant / defensive when other worldviews

challenge their worldview.

This process is so well-learned: it is automatic (uncontrolled) and unconscious .

After rationalisation and repression:

• Few, if any, conscious death thoughts

• No affective differences

⇒ Successfully repressed, but still there

⇒ Activates defense mechanism: Identification, worldview defense

MS >1 Min. COFF_ _ COFFEE SK _ LL SKILL DE _ _ DEED CO _ _ SE COURSE

Conscious death thoughts

high

MS >1 Min. >10 Min. COFF_ _ COFFEE COFFIN SK _ LL SKILL SKULL DE _ _ DEED DEAD CO _ _ SE COURSE CORPSE

Conscious death thoughts

high low

Experimental Protocol

1. Death reminders vs. Pain vs. control group

2. Time elapsed (rationalisation, repression)

3. Read an essay

4. Evaluate the writer: how likable / intelligent / would you like to meet him?

5. Conscious affect, etc.

This country lives with a lie. Its history is a history of shame and guilt, but only when forced to do so does it actively deal with its past and responsibility. It is small and unimportant, yet believes itself to be of utmost importance. This country is beautiful. It has wonderful natural resources, the alps, seas, etc. And though it is relatively small, it plays a significant role in world politics, culture and the sciences and succesfully asserts its interests against its neighbours.

How likable is the writer?

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9

Affect / Mood Scale

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9

3,1 3,1

2,8

32,9 2,9

2

3

4

Death Pain TV

Affect / Mood: No difference after repression

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Death Pain TV

2

4,2 4,3

7,2

3,74,1

Critical Praise

Likability Ratings per Condition: highly sign.

Effect only occurs after repression, i.e. when

death thoughts are outside of conscious focus! Without repression, no differences in defensive

evaluation, but strong mood/affect difference

Also: no conscious awareness of defensive evaluation

Works without repression if death reminders are not consciously perceived

Only works with repressed death thoughts:

How valid and ecology valid is this?

Rosenblatt et al. (1999) Subjects: Court Judges Case example, in “psychological study” Prostitute in Texas (illegal) IV: Setting of Bail

US$ 100 – US$ 999

How valid is this?

Rosenblatt et al. (1999) Experiment 1: Word test (Scramble sentences) Experiment 2: Some memory tests Experiment 3: Case example, in “psychological study” Prostitute in Texas (illegal) IV: Setting of Bail for prostitute: anything between:

US$ 100 – US$ 999

How valid is this?

Reasoning: Illegal behaviour = threat to worldview Hence: death-primed people should punish those how threaten their worldview stronger than those primed with pain. On the other hand: Judges should not punish others for their own existential problems with death anxiety. So perhaps no effect is expected? And yet: As judges, they perhaps cling especially strongly to the state laws as their cultural worldview. So perhaps there will be an effect?

455

55

0 100 200 300 400 500

Death Words

Pain Words

Bail set …

Rosenblatt et al. (1999) Exp. 2 Subjects: Jury (real) Case Example: Setting reward for woman who helps capturing thief

IV: Reward

US$ 1.000 – US$ 4.000

3.478

1.112

0 1.000 2.000 3.000 4.000

Death Words

Pain Words

Reward

Utilizing TMT for donation appeals

If death reminders lead to stronger identification with one‘s nation, does it

affect donation behaviour, too?

Experiment (Jonas, LMU Munich)

Cond.1: Cemetery (TMT)

Two streets away (Control group)

0,67

2,12

0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5

Cemetary

Two streets

Donations for helping children in ethopia as a function of cemetery closeness

Donations for children in Germany as a function of closeness to cemetery

TMT and its political dimension

Let‘s move towards Peace America‘s War against Terror We live in One World America is a strong leader in the World

„Seating Study“:

Everyday xenophibia and

existential defensiveness Subjects believe that they are taking part in several

unrelated studies

Task 1: death words

Task 2: memory and other tests (10 min)

Task 3: go to waiting area for task 4

Waiting area: turkish student already sits there Question: Will death-reminded subjects be so defensive that they perceive a threat and thus distance themselves from a representative of another culture

Control group Death group

Scope of TMT

• Death reminders are everywhere (Cinema, TV, newspapers, cigarette packages, etc. etc.)

• Death anxiety is (perhaps almost) universal

• And so are social situations and encounters with others

Psychodynamics of Anxiety + -

No repression

Constructive, conscious reflection

Repression

Defensive, not consicous (because of repression)

Destructive

Summary:

• TMT-processes are very similar to neurotic processes

• But on an existential level

Open questions:

Are there boundary conditions?

Do death reminders always lead to rigid behaviours? No: attachement atyle, afterlife beliefs, existentially honest philosophies of death

-> No repression -> no worldview defense (coupled process)