Here is a clip to show you that it's not ALL sad, this part was actually quite funny.
Of course, I cried like a baby cuddling Romeo and Rosie as if the same thing would happen to them tomorrow. So of course, being alone and anxious at this point, I started to think, what IF that happened tomorrow. What IF something happened to them tomorrow? And then I started thinking more, what about my parents? Or a close friend? It can all happen so quickly. And lastly, I began to worry…what about me? As my dog’s continued to stare at me confused as to why I was in a panic, I was going through my head not only all of the things in life that I still want to do, but the things I have already done. If something did happen to me tomorrow, would I be happy with who I have been, would the views I have of myself be positive or negative? That last question describes the concept of self-esteem (Coopersmith, 1967).
As social beings, we strive to live our lives to the fullest and by doing this, we also may stress ourselves out that every day could be our last, and that we want to live our lives with no regrets and with high self-esteem. The terror management theory is one which explains how we may deal with the stress of our own imminent death (Greenberg et al., 1997). According to Greenberg and colleagues (1997), we create views of the world which help lessen the blow of death such as religiosity, scientific explanations for the world’s existence, and even more fairytale reasons such as having your “happily ever after” or believing in things which we cannot explain such as ghosts UFO’s. Creating these views lessens does lessen our anxiety of the inevitable, but it also increases our drive for high self-esteem.
Shortly after I read this chapter, I knew that I had produced my own kind of terror management because of my actions after the movie had ended. As soon as it was over I called my boyfriend (Cody) after having all these negative thoughts on death, and to relieve my anxiety, we discussed positive ideas of what we think is after death, and if we would be happy with ourselves were we were today. During my discussion with Cody, I realized that I don’t think I would look back with completely positive evaluations of myself, therefore, I knew it was time to build up my self-esteem. I think I will be able to achieve higher self-esteem by realizing it is necessary to live a positive lifestyle. Pyszcynski and colleagues (2004) describe self-esteem in relation to the terror management theory as emotional protection against those things in the world we cannot control including the idea that death really is the end of life, and there is no other purpose for it. As scary as it is to think about, I think the best thing to reduce the anxiety I have over death is just to work on being the best me I can, and wanting to see myself in a better light. You cannot control the inevitable but you can control you actions and opinions of your self.
As social beings, we strive to live our lives to the fullest and by doing this, we also may stress ourselves out that every day could be our last, and that we want to live our lives with no regrets and with high self-esteem. The terror management theory is one which explains how we may deal with the stress of our own imminent death (Greenberg et al., 1997). According to Greenberg and colleagues (1997), we create views of the world which help lessen the blow of death such as religiosity, scientific explanations for the world’s existence, and even more fairytale reasons such as having your “happily ever after” or believing in things which we cannot explain such as ghosts UFO’s. Creating these views lessens does lessen our anxiety of the inevitable, but it also increases our drive for high self-esteem.
Shortly after I read this chapter, I knew that I had produced my own kind of terror management because of my actions after the movie had ended. As soon as it was over I called my boyfriend (Cody) after having all these negative thoughts on death, and to relieve my anxiety, we discussed positive ideas of what we think is after death, and if we would be happy with ourselves were we were today. During my discussion with Cody, I realized that I don’t think I would look back with completely positive evaluations of myself, therefore, I knew it was time to build up my self-esteem. I think I will be able to achieve higher self-esteem by realizing it is necessary to live a positive lifestyle. Pyszcynski and colleagues (2004) describe self-esteem in relation to the terror management theory as emotional protection against those things in the world we cannot control including the idea that death really is the end of life, and there is no other purpose for it. As scary as it is to think about, I think the best thing to reduce the anxiety I have over death is just to work on being the best me I can, and wanting to see myself in a better light. You cannot control the inevitable but you can control you actions and opinions of your self.
Until next blog,
Your social psycista
Coopersmith, S. (1967). The antecedents of self-esteem. San Francisco:Freeman.
Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., & Pyszcynski, T. (1997). Terror management theory of self-esteem and cultural worldviews: Empirical assessments and conceptual refinements. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 29, 61-139.
Pyszcynski, T., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., Arndt, J., & Schimel, J. (2004). Why do people need self-esteem? A theoretical and emperical review. Psycological Bulletin, 130, 435-468.
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