Death, Loss & Grief Flashcards
The more we try to control (suppress) our thoughts, the more persistent those thoughts become (it all started with Wegner et al., 1987)
Thought suppression
The fear of death is innate, universal, and unique to humans
Terror Management Theory
Self-awareness leads to the recognition that death is unstoppable and unpredictable
.
Fear of death is therefore, the fundamental source of human conflict and anxiety
Death naturally conflicts with our powerful self-preservation and freedom instincts
The ultimate motive, then, is to manage this terror
.
Mortality Science hypothesis
states that when people are reminded of death (mortality salience), they will use various terror management (defense) mechanisms to rid death thoughts from the mind
Culture is central; people should defend their worldviews after mortality salience (i.e., elicit worldview defense)
.
Worldview defense can either involve:
- Criticizing others’ disparate worldviews
2. Praising others who uphold your worldview
Types of loss:
- Predictable loss - loss that is expected due to circumstances like terminal illness
The process of adjusting to the loss of someone whom is close
Bereavement
The emotional response experienced in the early phase of bereavement
Grief
Mourning and Bereavement
- Practices following a loss that are meant to honor who or what was lost
- Highly informed by cultural beliefs and practices
- Rituals, practices, activities that are meant to ease the pain of the loss
Tasks of mourning
- Accepting the reality of the loss
- To work through pain and grief
- To adjust to environment in which the loss is realized
- To emotionally relocate and move on
- The resolution of grief
Kubler-Ross Stages of Grief
- Denial - inability to accept the loss or change
- Anger - expression of frustration, lack of acceptance, “how could this happen?”
- Bargaining - an attempt to avoid the cause of grief: “I will be a better person if you let XX happen/not happen”
- Depression
- Acceptance
