Meaning, Mortality, and Choice The Social Psychology of Existential Concerns

by Shaver, Phillip R.; Mikulincer, Mario

• ISBN13: 9781433811555
• ISBN10: 1433811553
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-06-15
• Publisher: American Psychological Association

Summary

In this thought-provoking addition to the Herzliya Series on Personality and Social Psychology, editors Mario Mikulincer and Phillip R. Shaver have gathered a varied group of international thinkers to investigate these existential concerns within a framew

Author Biography

Phillip R. Shaver, PhD, a social and personality psychologist, is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis. Before moving there, he served on the faculties of Columbia University, New York University, University of Denver, and State University of New York at Buffalo. He has coauthored and coedited numerous books and has published over 200 scholarly journal articles and book chapters.
 
Dr. Shaver's research focuses on attachment, human motivation and emotion, close relationships, personality development, and the effects of meditation on behavior and the brain. He is a member of the editorial boards of Attachment and Human Development, Personal Relationships, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Emotion, and he has served on grant review panels for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
 
Dr. Shaver received a Distinguished Career Award and a Mentoring Award from the International Association for Relationship Research and has served as president of that organization.
 
Mario Mikulincer, PhD, is professor of psychology and dean of the New School of Psychology at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel. He has published five books and over 280 scholarly journal articles and book chapters.
 
Dr. Mikulincer's main research interests are attachment theory, terror management theory, personality processes in interpersonal relationships, coping with stress and trauma, grief-related processes, and prosocial motives and behavior.
 
He is a member of the editorial boards of several scientific journals, including the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychological Inquiry, and Personality and Social Psychology Review, and he has served as associate editor of two journals, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and Personal Relationships. Recently, he was elected to serve as chief editor of the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
 
He received the EMET Prize in Social Science for his contributions to psychology and the Berscheid-Hatfield Award for Distinguished Mid-Career Achievement from the International Association for Relationship Research.
 

Table of Contents

Contributors	p. xi
Preface	p. xv
Introduction	p. 3
The Problem of Finitude	p. 15
Terror Management Theory: From Genesis to Revelations	p. 17
Helplessness: A Hidden Liability Associated With Failed Defenses Against Awareness of Death	p. 37
A Significant Contributor to a Meaningful Cultural Drama: Terror Management Research on the Functions and Implications of Self-Esteem	p. 55
Culture, Ideology, Morality, and Religion: Death Changes Everything	p. 75
A Body of Terror: Denial of Death and the Creaturely Body	p. 93
The Impermanence of All Things: An Existentialist Stance on Personal and Social Change	p. 111
The Threat of Meaninglessness	p. 127
Meaning: Ubiquitous and Effortless	p. 129
Religion as a Source of Meaning	p. 145
Becoming and Developing: Personal Growth in the Wake of Parenthood and Grandparenthood	p. 163
Deriving Solace From a Nemesis: Having Scapegoats and Enemies Buffers the Threat of Meaninglessness	p. 183
Terrorism as Means to an End: How Political Violence Bestows Significance	p. 203
The Challenge of Freedom	p. 213
Beyond Illusions and Defense: Exploring the Possibilities and Limits of Human Autonomy and Responsibility Through Self-Determination Theory	p. 215
Conditional Regard in Close Relationships	p. 235
Removing the Constraints on Our Choices: A Psychobiological Approach to the Effects of Mindfulness-Based Techniques	p. 253
Choice, Freedom, and Autonomy	p. 271
Connection Versus Isolation and Loneliness	p. 289
An Attachment Perspective on Coping With Existential Concerns	p. 291
Ostracism: The Impact of Being Rendered Meaningless	p. 309
Why People Die by Suicide: Further Development and Tests of the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicidal Behavior	p. 325
Overcoming Existential Threats and Challenges	p. 337
The Case of Allison: An Existential-Integrative Inquiry Into Death Anxiety, Groundlessness, and the Quest for Meaning and Awe	p. 339
Separation Theory and Voice Therapy Methodology	p. 353
Acceptance and Commitment to Chosen Values in Cognitive Behavior Therapy	p. 379
Synthesis	p. 399
The Social Psychology of Meaning, Mortality, and Choice: An Integrative Perspective on Existential Concerns	p. 401
Index	p. 419
About the Editors	p. 437
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