Don’t Fear the Reaper

Terrified of dying? You and just about everyone else who has spent some time on the planet. Beyond instilling fear, however, an awareness that the end is inevitable can have a profound impact on our lives. “Our efforts to transcend death have led to some of the greatest pursuits of mankind, and some of the worst,” says Sheldon Solomon, a co-author with Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski of The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life. The trio of psychologists spearheaded the theory of “terror management” and has for three decades explored the ways in which people respond to their fear of dying. By better understanding these responses, they and their colleagues argue, we can achieve both social progress and personal growth.

Lesson 1: There’s More Than One Way to Live Forever

Death can be paralyzingly scary, but according to the researchers, our systems of belief counter the fear by giving us a sense that our lives will transcend our physical expiration date: in the afterlife, in the next life, or, more symbolically, through our work, offspring, or the memories of others. When we’re reminded that we’ll eventually die, experiments suggest, we cling to our worldviews more closely—and act more negatively toward people of other faiths or cultures, whose values we perceive as challenging our own.

Lesson 2: Follow the Leader (With Caution)

Belonging to a nation is another source of “symbolic immortality,” the team proposes. During times of upheaval and danger, such as in the aftermath of 9/11, people yearn for leaders who can restore a sense of meaning. In one experiment, subjects who were instructed to write about death, including their own, were more likely than those in a control group to express support for President George W. Bush versus his then challenger John Kerry.

Lesson 3: Protect Yourself Wisely

Study participants who write about dying before answering questions about health-related choices express more interest in exercise or high-SPF sunscreen than those who write about other subjects. But if thoughts about death are further from one’s focus, they may increase the appeal of behaviors that can feed self-esteem—even at a risk to one’s health. When given a few minutes between their writing prompt and answering such questions, subjects show relatively high interest in casual sex, tanning, and smoking.

Image: Roman Ya / Shutterstock