Psych. Death & Dying Ch. 1

Death Anxiety

Cluster of death attitudes characterized by negative emotional reactions. Ironic that death anxiety studies how living people view death and not death itself. *Most research done in this area of the field*

Immortality Project

Essentially a symbolic belief-system that ensures oneself is believed superior to physical reality. "The Denial of Death, I disagree with you about what happens after we die; therefore, I must kill you."

Subjunctive Voice

Ex. "mother would be proud"

Agenda Setting

Ex. with celebrity deaths usually the wrongful death is what is focused on

Terror Management Theory (TMT)

Human behavior mostly motivated by unconscious fear of death

Dirge

Hymn of mourning

Cultivation

Mean World Syndrome Society believe TV is real

Black Comedy

Morbid and farcical humor making light of a dark, taboo subject

Requiem

Musical composition played at mass for the dead Ex. Dies Irae "Day of Wrath" Ex. Danse Macabre

Lament

Passionate expression of grief or sorrow Ex. Scottish clan funerals where bagpipes are played

Elegies

Poem or song memorializing the dead Ex. Elton John's eulogy to Princess Diana "Candle in the Wind"

Cultural Lag

Technology develops quicker than culture. Denial vs. Acceptance of Death

Thanatology

The study of death

Keening

Wail in grief

Gallows Humor

Witticism in hopeless situation

Social Learning

You learn to behave while at that certain setting Ex. JFK's son at his father's funeral

Mean World Syndrome

(More TV) -Cultivation, not imitation -Dread drying -Diminished vitality -Anxiety -Fear *among most of society*

Death Talk

-metaphors -euphemisms -slang