Proximal and Distal Defense: A New Perspective on Unconscious Motivation
Abstract
Death-related thoughts produce different effects on thought and behavior when they are in current focal attention and when they are on the fringes of consciousness. When such thoughts are conscious, people attempt to either remove them from consciousness or push death into the distant future by distorting their beliefs to logically imply that they have many remaining years to live. When such thoughts are highly accessible but outside current focal attention, people increase efforts to view themselves as persons of value living in a meaningful universe. In this way, awareness of the inevitability of death produces diverse effects on human thought and behavior that bear little obvious resemblance to the problem of death.
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Death-related thoughts produce different effects on cognition and behavior when in current focal attention (conscious proximal defense) and when on the fringes of consciousness (unconscious distal defense).
“Death‐related thoughts produce different effects on cognition and behavior when they are in current focal attention (i.e., conscious proximal defense) and when they are on the fringes of consciousness (i.e., unconscious distal defense) (Pyszczynski et al., 1999, 2000).”
Cites
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Jin, S. V., & Ryu, E. (2022) · Journal of Consumer Affairs · doi:10.1111/joca.12381 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
“Using both a survey design (Study 1) and an experimental design (Study 2), this multi-method study addresses the dual defense model of mortality salience, an extension of terror management theory (Arndt et al., 2005; Arndt, Solomon, Kasser, Kennon, & Sheldon, 2004; Pyszczynski et al., 2000), which distinguishes betwee…”
Method
- Authors
- Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg, J., & Solomon, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Colorado Colorado Springs (US)
- University of Arizona (US)
- Skidmore College (US)
- Corresponding author
- Pyszczynski, Tom
- Venue
- Current Directions in Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2000-10
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 156-160
- ISSN
- 0963-7214 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-8721
- OpenAlex
- W2160236098
- Cited by
- 47
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 0.56
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Current Directions in Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Keywords
- death awareness, death-related thoughts, focal attention, belief distortion, meaning in life, self-worth, mortality salience, coping with death
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