From Cradle to Grave: A Terror Management Theory Analysis of Parenthood

Abstract

According to terror management theory, human beings share a basic biological predisposition toward self-preservation with all other forms of life. Humans are, however, unique in their capacity for abstract symbolic thought and self-consciousness, including the awareness of the inevitability of death. Death awareness gives rise to potentially debilitating existential terror that is “managed” by embracing humanly constructed cultural worldviews, striving for a sense of personal significance (i.e. self-esteem), and forging and maintaining close relationships with significant others. Cultural worldviews, self-esteem, and close relationships serve to buffer anxiety and to enhance the prospect of acquiring literal or symbolic immortality. From an existential perspective, becoming a parent is a potentially dynamic transition that confers numerous social and psychological benefits, as well as presenting some daunting challenges. Accordingly, the purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of terror management theory and research, and to present an empirically corroborated account of how parenthood assuages and arouses existential anxieties.