European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 10, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                When people Are reminded of their own mortality they become especially punitive toward those who violate their standards and especially benevolent toward those who uphold  Tom Pyszczynski. Psychologist fear of death intensifies Oral code by Daniel Goleman new York times the preacher s lire and Brimston warning hat death will bring a Dir judgment Lor moral wrongs is masterful psychological ploy judging from recent research findings. New studies show that confronting people with the fact that they will die makes them cling tenaciously to their deepest moral values the research shows that when Many people Are forced to face the thought of their own death they tend to become moralistic and judgmental both harsher toward those who violate their moral standards and Kinder toward those who uphold them. Just How one reacts depends upon one s moral code those who value open mindedness for example become even More tolerant of people whose values differ irom theirs. Researchers see in Chece  implications that go far beyond the psychology of Mora Stic judgments. They propose a sweeping theory that gives the fear of death a Centra and often unsuspected role in psychological life. The theory hold for instance that a culture s very concept of reality its Model of the Good  and its moral codes Are All intended to protect people from the terror of death All cultures the theory says prescribe what people should do to Lead a Good and meaningful life and offer some Hope of immortality As in the the Christian afterlife or the hindu notion of reincarnation into a better life and even Many non religious people implicitly believe that the world is just and that if they Lead a Good life they will be protected from tragic Fate. A cultural world View promises at least a symbolic immortality and often an actual one said Jeff Greenberg. A psychologist at the University of Arizona at Tucson who is among those proposing the new theory. It acts As a Buffer against the anxiety of living in a universe where death is the Only Page 14 stars and stripes certainty. When that fear Breaks into the open then we need to cling to our world View with special  the Basic elements of the theory itself derive largely from the work of the late anthropologist Ernest Becker who outlined its essential ideas in his Book the denial of death Lor which he won the pulitzer prize in 1974 what is new though Are experimental studies that lend Strong support to the predictions that flow from the theory a key prediction is thai anxiety about dying will intensify allegiance to moral beliefs in the november Issue of the journal of personality and social psychology. Greenberg and other psychologists report data showing Strong links Between thinking about one s own death and the Way people make moral judgments. In one Experiment for instance 22 municipal court judges were Given a series of psychological tests for half the judges the tests included one question in which they were asked to write about what will happen to them physically As they die As Well As the emotions that the thought of their own death arouses in them the judges were then asked of set Bond for a prostitute based on a Case Brief describing the circumstances of her arrest. Those who did not reflect on death before setting Bond recommended on average that it be $50 but those who had been thinking about their own death set Bond at an average $455 our moral principles protect us from anxiety about death said Tom Pyszczynski a psychologist at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs who was one of the other authors of the article making the judges think about their mortality presumably increased their need for Faith in their moral standards that increases the desire to punish someone who transgresses those  the theory holds that someone who violates one s moral standards implicitly threatens the Validity of one s own belief in them by punishing the transgressor the standards Are defended of course moral values Are highly personal for instance some people May be bothered Little by prostitution while others hold it to be a sin the theory holds that when people contemplate death they will be moved to react moot strongly against others who violate the values they cherish. To lost this the psychologists repeated their Experiment with 78 College students who based on measures of attitude were shown to have highly favourable or antagonistic feelings about prostitution. Halt the group was Given the question requiring that they think about their own death before setting a hypothetical Bond for the arrested prostitute in this Experiment too those who reflected on dying set a higher Bond Man tie others $238 As against $132. But among those who pondered death there were Sharp differences depending on moral values. The students who opposed prostitution set. On average a still higher bail $4t4. While those who were not bothered by it set bail at an average of $146 just As the fear of death leads people to harsh judgments against moral transgressors the theory holds it also makes them More favourably disposed toward those who uphold their values in a further Experiment the psychologists tested this premise by having students not Only set bail for a prostitute after thinking about dying but also deciding How Large a Reward to give someone who turned in a vicious mugger those who thought about death recommended an average award of $3,476, those who did not set the Reward at $1,112. When people Are reminded of their own mortality they become especially punitive a doctor examine an a Ray of Art doomed to death by by the Fibre set studies have show that people Lac death become More moralistic ant judgmental. Toward those who violate their Standar especially benevolent toward those we uphold  said Pyszczynski. Whether or not confronting death m one judge others More harshly or not c to some extent on How open minded c in experiments to be reported in the of personality and social psychology r year Greenberg and his colleagues of people who were More authoritarian Ai dogmatic in their beliefs tended to Bee More harshly judgmental after Ponder death. But people who were More open i became less judgmental and More act of people who did not share their Valu a Strong Liberal value is to be Toler that value is upheld even More Strong liberals when they be thought about said Greenberg. Findings by other researchers she while it is upsetting to confront though one s own death it can have life affirm consequences. In a study of women with metastatic cancer Irvin Yalom a psychiatrist at s University in California found that Reali that they had a life threatening disease some women become More deeply ins with life. The awareness of death can have positive effect offering a larger perspex that transcends life s trivialities said about a Quarter of the women who pc they had cancer seemed to get More i psychologically taking Stock of their p and doing things that mattered most t but which they had always put  in another study of men and women had lost a spouse Yalom observed a i effect the increased awareness of their c mortality made them More attuned to i meaning of life More aware of its Brev  that people facing death re evaluate they Are living has Long been noted. We find people with life threatening diseases reorder their lives in terms of most important to them said Shelley psychologist at the University of Calico los Angeles wednesday january 1c