Terror Management Theory

~Terror Management Theory (TMT) is an interesting idea I've run across recently in the field of social psychology.  The theory was inspired by anthropologist Ernest Becker's Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Denial of Death (1973), which posits that most of what people do is done as reaction against the knowledge of their own mortality.  In other words, most of the things we do every day are ways of distracting ourselves from the idea that one day we won't be around anymore.  These actions include such trifles as civilization, culture, religion, reproduction, etc.

TMT focuses on the emotional reactions of individuals when confronted with their own mortality.  Two interesting hypotheses have arisen out of this psychological research.  The first is the "mortality salience hypothesis", which posits that as people are confronted with the idea of death (for example, news of a natural disaster, war, bombing, etc.), they will increasingly identify with their culture as a way of boosting self-esteem and thereby forcing away thoughts of their own mortality.  "Culture" in this sense refers to whatever one identifies with: nation, tribe, religion, job, sports team, whatever.  The "anxiety-buffer hypothesis" simply states that self-esteem (which is bolstered by identification with culture) serves as a buffer to insulate people against the anxiety of eventual death.  There have been a number of interesting research studies that support these hypotheses.

Some evolutionary psychologists have been critical of TMT, because it goes against the idea that behavior changes in response to environmental challenges to facilitate survival and reproduction, whereas in TMT behavior is motivated by the terror of death.  But I don't see a conflict, simply because humans occupy a unique niche in the evolutionary tree of life: we're the only creatures that have the mental capacity to be aware of our mortality.  Other animals may be saddened by the death of another, but it's unlikely that they think to themselves "Oh no, that will be me one day!"

This is hardly a new concept. The Epic of Gilgamesh concerns the exploits of King Gilgamesh of Uruk to achieve immortality after he becomes enraged by the knowledge that one day he will die (making the fear of mortality literally the oldest story ever written).  Similarly, in the first book of the Bible, man is said to eat of the "tree of knowledge" and is cursed with the knowledge that one day he will die.  Out of that impending knowledge of death and the need to "live" beyond our lifetimes we eventually get civilization, culture, reproduction, religion, work, and all sorts of other fun things to keep us from ever really thinking too much about that dark knowledge that lurks deep down  inside each and every one of us, that terrifying question: "Must I die too?"

But hey, it could be worse!  After all, do you really want to live forever?  And an immortal life would be rather dull without the very distractions people have made to avoid contemplating their deaths in the first place.  Terror Management Theory, while not perfect, does offer an interesting explanation for why people behave they way they do when they become afraid of the specter of their unavoidable death, and how this fear is exploited by politicians and other scruple-less people and groups to control the fearful masses.

So the next time you're confronted with mortality (perhaps on the news, hopefully not in your own life), take a moment to consider your own reaction and how you feel about whatever it is you identify with before and after the event.  Remember that there is no "right" or "wrong" reaction; it's simply something to be aware off.  And of course, something to do to keep your mind off of a certain concept...