Terror Management Theory
Terror Management Theory (TMT) is a psychological framework that explores how awareness of mortality influences human behavior and motivation. Developed in the 1980s, TMT builds on the ideas of cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker, particularly his insights on the human need for self-esteem and meaning in life. At its core, TMT posits that the recognition of our vulnerability and inevitable death generates a profound anxiety, which individuals attempt to alleviate by embracing cultural belief systems that provide significance and a sense of purpose.
According to TMT, cultures establish shared worldviews that help individuals manage the fear associated with mortality. These worldviews often include creation myths, guidelines for acceptable behavior, and promises of some form of immortality—whether through legacy, procreation, or spiritual afterlife. The theory suggests that when confronted with reminders of death, individuals may become more defensive of their beliefs and may even react negatively toward differing perspectives. Ultimately, TMT reveals a fundamental aspect of human nature: the struggle to find meaning and value in life while grappling with the reality of death. This exploration can lead to a deeper understanding of both individual and collective behaviors across diverse cultures.
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Terror Management Theory
Terror management theory (TMT) emerged in the 1980s based on cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker’s earlier writings to explain the motivational foundations of human behavior; specifically, why people have such a deep need to feel good about themselves and why people have such a difficult time getting along with those who are different from themselves. The basic tenet behind TMT is that human beings are motivated to repress the potential for terror associated with the awareness of human vulnerability and mortality by investing in cultural belief systems that instill life with significance and individuals with self-esteem.
Overview
According to TMT, a defining characteristic of human beings is self-awareness about being alive. While that awareness may give rise to wonder and joy, it may also lead to overwhelming dread stemming from the realization that at the end of life comes death, which is inevitable and mostly uncontrollable. TMT contends that humans solved this existential impasse by developing cultural worldviews—beliefs about reality shared by individuals within a group—that provide a framework to manage the potentially paralyzing terror caused by the awareness of death.
All cultures create a sense of meaning by establishing a creation myth; outlining acceptable human behavior; and offering a promise of immortality in some form, such as physical wealth, talent or power, familial lineage from procreation, or some semblance of afterlife, to individuals who achieve or exceed culturally defined standards. While the specifics among cultures may vary greatly, the underlying concept is the same: to provide meaning and value that create a sense of psychological calmness in the face of inevitable death.
According to TMT, the terror associated with acknowledgement of death creates a subconscious anxiety known as cognitive dissonance. Individuals are faced with having to balance two contrary ideas: how to become engaged with life and become a meaningful part of the world while recognizing that life is fleeting and that one’s existence may mean little in the grand scheme of the universe. In Becker’s 1973 Pulitzer Prize–winning work, The Denial of Death, he explores how individuals spend their entire lives trying to make sense of these opposing ideas.
Human beings are so fearful of death that they create alternate realities, or worldviews, centered on the concept of immortality. Whether it is spiritual life after death or a symbolic ongoing existence with something as simple as a cemetery marker or as grand as a mention in the history books, people want to believe that they will live on in some way after death. TMT goes so far as to state that all successful cultures replace the reality of physical death with the idea of a literal or symbolic afterlife. Some TMT theorists believe that individuals may become so anxious from being reminded about his or her own mortality that he or she will invest even more belief in a worldview while resisting or even attacking anything perceived as a threat to that belief system.
Bibliography
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"Terror Management Theory." Encyclopedia.com, 11 June 2018, www.encyclopedia.com/history/united-states-and-canada/us-history/terror-management-theory. Accessed 9 July 2024.
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