Experts from the University of Stirling (UK) and the University of Missouri (USA) studied how the day of the week affects a person’s desire to “drown out” the fear of death with alcohol. By itself, the division of time into fixed intervals: days, weeks, months is one of the manifestations of generally accepted cultural norms. For example, in one experiment, participants were asked to evaluate the behavior of a person who “denies the calendar.” The subjects who were previously interviewed about the inevitability of death were much more categorical in their negative assessment of the “calendar violator” than those who assessed him in a calm state. This is due to the fact that structuring time is one of the symbolic pillars that enhance people’s sense of security in society. The tradition of drinking alcohol on Fridays and weekends is also part of the “cultural program” in society. In the course of the described study, scientists talked about death with a group of students (and with participants from the control group on abstract topics) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and then offered to drink alcohol. It turned out that the students from the main group on all days showed a greater tendency to drink alcohol after talking about death than the participants in the control group. At the same time, on Monday and Wednesday, students from the main group stayed on a small amount of alcohol, but on Friday the dose of the drink increased significantly. Scientists have concluded that remembering death can enhance adherence to cultural norms – “day of the week” and “drinking alcohol on weekends.” Earlier, scientists from the University of Pittsburgh (USA) proved that drinking alcohol is one of the ways to protect against “death anxiety.” In another study, it that propaganda directed against alcoholism can lead to the opposite effect: mentioning the risk of premature death caused by alcohol abuse provokes the emergence of existential anxiety, which alcohol can be used to reduce. In another study, researchers from the University of Kent (UK) found that participants with low self-esteem tend to drink more alcohol than those who feel socially successful.

A study conducted at Arizona State University showed that excessive eating allows you to “release” the tension caused by existential fear for a while. The experiment, which involved about 400 students, took place in several stages. At each stage, the participants were divided into two groups – the main one (immersion in thoughts of death) and the control one. At the first stage, students were asked to choose products from a list for a hypothetical party: a fixed amount was “allocated” for purchases. The students from the main group “spent” an average of $15 more and “bought” more goods than the participants in the control group. Moreover, the highest “expenses” in the first group were committed by students with low self-esteem. In the second stage, the researchers looked for a link between fear of death, self-esteem, and “running away from oneself.” To do this, students from the main and control groups had to choose between two chairs, one of which stood in front of a full-length mirror, and the other was turned to a blank wall. According to experts, turning away from the mirror, a person tends to avoid an honest look at himself and get away from self–awareness – this indicates low self-esteem. Choosing a mirror indicates a positive perception of one’s body, compliance with the requirements of society, which is one of the criteria for high self-esteem. Next, the participants were asked to choose from a list of foods that they would like to include in the diet next week and indicate their quantity. It turned out that the participants who chose a “blank wall” instead of a mirror preferred high-calorie foods that they “ordered” in large quantities, while people who enjoyed looking at themselves in the mirror preferred dietary products in moderation. The reminder of death led to an increase in this trend among people with low self-esteem, forcing them to order even more junk food, and had no effect on people with stable self-esteem regarding appearance. Next, the participants were asked to taste three types of cookies, and it was also said that after the experiment, students would be able to take the excess pastries with them. It turned out that the participants with low self-esteem, who were reminded of death, ate the most cookies and took them with them. In second place were participants from the control group with low self-esteem. But people with high self-esteem in both groups showed restraint during the tastings and did not seek to take a lot of cookies with them. In the fourth stage, only students with low self-esteem participated. The subjects wrote essays (in the main group – on the topic of death, in the control group – on the topic of pain), sitting in front of a large mirror, so they had no opportunity to avoid self-awareness. Next, the students had to choose food and drinks from a list: some had to do it in front of a mirror, while others had the opportunity to turn away. The participants who wrote about death and “bought” food without a mirror included the largest number of harmful products in the list. Those subjects who wrote about death and were forced to constantly be in front of a mirror preferred to “limit” themselves in quantity and chose healthy food even more often than people who wrote about pain. Experts concluded that the lack of an opportunity to avoid self-awareness in a person with low self-esteem forces a person to change behavior and take measures to reduce the distance between the ideal and the real state of things. Other studies have shown that remembering death increases people’s interest in fitness (a beautiful figure and self-esteem are closely related), and in buying luxury items, the possession of which will also emphasize a high status in society. Experiments have shown that awareness of their mortality makes overweight women, but at the same time trying to lose weight, choose chocolate cake instead of fruit salad. However, women with a beautiful figure in such a situation will prefer a light salad, since slimness for them is a means of self–affirmation in society. According to researchers, low self-esteem increases the fear of death and provokes rash actions to reduce anxiety. A person who feels “uncomfortable” in society more often sets unattainable goals for himself, trying to prove that he is “worth something”: he takes on complex projects, buys too expensive things, takes out loans, overeats because “he can afford it.” The inevitable failure leads to a further decrease in self-esteem and deterioration of self-regulation.

The fear of death is widely used in politics. For example, when people are reminded of death, even the most peace-loving citizens may support military action or even take up arms. Aggression, whether psychological or physical, is directed towards a group that challenges the basic aspects of their cultural worldview. By opposing the threat posed by alternative beliefs, people seek to protect their own symbolic psychological constructs. Forcibly “converting apostates to their faith” or physically destroying them allows them to regain a sense of inner peace and reduce existential tension. The study, organized by scientists from the University of Colorado (USA), involved a group of students from Iran. Part of the group was “immersed” in thoughts of death, and then showed the written works of fellow students condemning the attack of “religious martyrs” on the United States. The second part also studied the works, but without first thinking about death. It turned out that students who did not think about death were inclined to support the view that violent solutions to the problem were unacceptable and to show tolerance towards dissidents. At the same time, young people who were forced to think deeply about death were more likely to disagree with the “peacekeepers”, approve of the actions of the “martyrs” and show aggression towards dissidents. The second phase of the experiment involved students from Rutgers University (USA), who were also divided into two groups – the main and the control. The main group was invited to reflect on the events of September 11, 2001 and imagine themselves in the place of victims of terrorist acts. Further, the students were asked to support or refute a number of statements concerning, for example, the appropriateness of preemptive attacks on countries that could pose a threat to the United States (even if there is no absolute evidence of aggressive plans by such countries), the permissibility of using nuclear and chemical weapons to protect interests at home and abroad, etc. It turned out that young people from the control group mostly reacted negatively to the ideas of preemptive attacks, while students who had been thinking about death before the survey were more likely to support such measures.

The form of psychological protection against existential horror depends on the cultural and religious ideas prevailing in society. Representatives of Asian culture are characterized by fatalism as a form of mitigating the fear of death. Fatalism means the belief that many events in life are beyond a person’s control: first of all, such key moments as birth, marriage, illness, and death. One study examined the reactions of Asian Americans to the loss of loved ones after the 9/11 attacks. Speaking about their feelings, they were more likely than the victims belonging to Western culture to say that this loss was “in the hands of God,” “beyond my control,” and viewed the sad events as “part of something bigger” and “the natural course of things.” In another study, Chinese-born Australians explained the causes of cancerous tumors by talking about “karma,” “retribution,” “the will of heaven,” “the hand of God.” The researchers note that the concept of “karma” is often used by native speakers of Asian culture when explaining the causes of adverse events. Karma refers to “paying for mistakes” made in “past lives” and “correct” behavior in the present moment in order to avoid retribution in “future lives.” Thus, the concept of karma is closely related to the belief in reincarnation – the transmigration of the soul from one body to another, which in the framework of the theory of fear of death management can be considered as one of the “projects of immortality.” A study conducted at the National Defense University (Taipei, Taiwan) aimed to discover a link between belief in karma and fear of death. 64 Taiwanese students participated in the experiment. During the study, the participants were divided into two groups: students from the first group were “immersed” in thoughts of death at the beginning of the study. Next, the participants were invited to familiarize themselves with the story, the hero of which saved the animal from death, after which he “miraculously escaped mortal danger.” Then they suggested evaluating several statements of a “fatalistic” nature on an eight-point scale, for example, “everything that happens in life is predetermined by fate,” “only what should happen happens,” “wealth and fame are in the hands of God,” etc. The study showed that participants who reflected on death rated fatalistic statements higher, and also demonstrated greater faith in karmic predestination. For comparison, during this experiment, a group of American students studying in Taiwan were included in the study. After completing similar tasks, participants from the United States showed much less faith in fate and karmic retribution, and the situation did not change even after thinking about the inevitable death. According to scientists, these results demonstrate that belief in karma and fatalism can be seen as symbolic ways of protecting people with an “Asian mentality” from the fear of death. In addition, some features of “Oriental” people have been discovered concerning such a concept as self-esteem, which is closely related to the importance of a person in society and allows him to “join” the projects of immortality that this society professes. This question is relevant for individualistic “Western” cultures that recognize the value of an individual. A study conducted in Japan showed that it is more important for representatives of this country not to prove their importance by towering over their fellow citizens, but to feel like part of a collective of a certain social stratum with strict rules of behavior and a clear hierarchy. Instead of emphasizing their value and individuality, people tend to “merge” with a significant group, to feel like a part of the whole. Therefore, it is not self-affirmation that will act as a protective mechanism against existential anxiety for a Japanese person, but rather the ability to “keep your face”, follow the rules, regardless of circumstances and feelings.

From the moment we realize our own mortality, an alarm bell begins to sound in our mind. And my whole life turns into an attempt to calm this terrible sound or at least muffle it a little. While we are running from existential fear, we have two paths. The first is to use the “buffer” that culture or religion provides, “growing” your self–esteem, and becoming a significant part of society. By becoming a part of one or another “immortality project,” a person draws confidence in order, cultural symbols, punishes “apostates,” and believes that “the majority cannot be wrong.” The second way is to try to “calm” existential anxiety with alcohol, overeating, shopping, and other measures that allow you to temporarily forget about fear. However, both of these ways are difficult to call effective, since these strategies are based on self-deception. There is a third way – to face the truth, to accept the fact of your own mortality. Only honest awareness allows us to see the external and internal mechanisms that control our thoughts and actions, to identify the fear disguised in the clothes of “striving for success”, the desire to “be no worse than others”, “to seek and punish the guilty,” etc. Only by accepting the idea of an inevitable end can we consciously choose strategies to prolong our lives and understand what is truly valuable to us. As American psychotherapist Irwin Yalom writes: “… although the fact of death destroys us, the idea of death can save us. In other words, the awareness of death opens up life to us in a new perspective and forces us to reconsider our values.”