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Death, the Need for Unambiguous Knowledge, and the Construction and Maintenance of Multi-level Meaning

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The Experience of Meaning in Life

Abstract

From the perspective of terror management theory, the construction and maintenance of meaning serves a very important psychological function. It allows people to cope with the unsettling reality that their lives will one day end. This chapter (a) provides an overview of terror management theory’s conceptualization of micro-level (structured knowledge and expectations about the world) and macro-level (perceived pathways to death-transcendence) meaning, (b) highlights differences in the ways that people construct meaning under conditions of elevated death-thought, and (c) explores how these differences can be used to understand people’s responses when important foundations of meaning begin to crumble.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The reader is encouraged to consult Arndt et al. (2004) for an important discussion of the cognitive processes underlying mortality salience effects. The need for cultural worldviews and self-esteem primarily occurs when thoughts of death are accessible but not in focal conscious attention.

  2. 2.

    Death is certainly not the only reason why people seek meaning, but, from the present perspective, death is a critically important and unique reason.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA

    Matthew Vess

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  1. Matthew Vess
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Correspondence to Matthew Vess .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Dept. of Psychology, Texas A&M University, TAMU 4235, College Station, 77843, Texas, USA

    Joshua A. Hicks

  2. , Dept of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Minard Hall, Fargo, 58105, North Dakota, USA

    Clay Routledge

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Vess, M. (2013). Death, the Need for Unambiguous Knowledge, and the Construction and Maintenance of Multi-level Meaning. In: Hicks, J., Routledge, C. (eds) The Experience of Meaning in Life. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6527-6_21

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