A dying individual’s mind is ruled by happiness, not fear, for a new study has found that when faced with death, the brain instinctively moves toward happier notions and images.
The findings hold on to the belief that people are emotionally stronger when faced with their own or a loved one's death than they may have ever thought possible.
The study was led by Nathan DeWall, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky and co-researcher Roy Baumeister, of Florida State University.
The scientists believe that as humans became aware of death, they also evolved what's been called the "psychological immune system."
DeWall said that due to this mechanism, the thoughts and attitudes get inclined towards the positive, no matter how grim the events are.
According to him, this behaviour is normally an unconscious mental shift.
For the study, more than 100 healthy young adult volunteers were made to think about death as a reality. They were also asked to imagine the process of their own death, as well as what it might be like to be dead.
Another group of young adults was asked to think about an unpleasant event, like a trip to the dentist's office, but not death. The participants were then made to undergo standard word tests that tapped into unconscious emotional states.
The scientists said that the individuals asked to think about death were more prone than the other participants to choose the word "joy," as against more neutral or negative words. During another word test, the researchers offered the participants a word and asked them to pair it with one of two other words.
This picks up on the idea that when people are confronted with their own mortality, these sorts of concepts -- positive emotion words -- become readily accessible to them,” said DeWall.
The study is published in a recent issue of Psychological Science
The findings hold on to the belief that people are emotionally stronger when faced with their own or a loved one's death than they may have ever thought possible.
The study was led by Nathan DeWall, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky and co-researcher Roy Baumeister, of Florida State University.
The scientists believe that as humans became aware of death, they also evolved what's been called the "psychological immune system."
DeWall said that due to this mechanism, the thoughts and attitudes get inclined towards the positive, no matter how grim the events are.
According to him, this behaviour is normally an unconscious mental shift.
For the study, more than 100 healthy young adult volunteers were made to think about death as a reality. They were also asked to imagine the process of their own death, as well as what it might be like to be dead.
Another group of young adults was asked to think about an unpleasant event, like a trip to the dentist's office, but not death. The participants were then made to undergo standard word tests that tapped into unconscious emotional states.
The scientists said that the individuals asked to think about death were more prone than the other participants to choose the word "joy," as against more neutral or negative words. During another word test, the researchers offered the participants a word and asked them to pair it with one of two other words.
This picks up on the idea that when people are confronted with their own mortality, these sorts of concepts -- positive emotion words -- become readily accessible to them,” said DeWall.
The study is published in a recent issue of Psychological Science
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