Terror Management Theory/恐惧管理理论
“当人们觉得自己生命将尽时，就会更强烈地试图去捍卫自己文化的世界观。他们变得越来越强烈响应其他人的类似行为，越来越强烈攻击行为与自己不同的人群。在战争和困难时期，民族主义就是这种现象的一个典型例子。”
We all get scared of the fatality of human life, but the Terror Management Theory may be affecting you more than you realize.
Fear of death is a natural reaction when we become aware of its inevitability. We all have our own ways of managing this fear, from acceptance to complete ignorance. The fear of death, however, is capable of shaping our behaviors without us even realizing. Terror Management Theory attempts to explain and explore how the fear of death affects us all.
我们都对死亡感到恐惧，但关于这种恐惧的恐惧管理理论对我们产生的影响可能要比我们意识到的深远。
当我们意识到死亡的不可避免性时，对死亡感到恐惧是一种自然反应。我们都有自己独有的恐惧管理方式，从接受到完全无视。但对死亡的恐惧，却能够在我们意识不到的情形下影响我们的行为。恐惧管理理论尝试解释并探究了死亡恐惧对我们的影响方式。
1 What is Terror Management Theory? 理论定义
It is a psychological attempt to explain a kind of defensive thinking which stems from an awareness and an acute fear of death. It supposes that humans have a biological predisposition towards self-preservation, but we are a unique species in the sense that we have symbolic thought.
该理论试图从心理角度解释源于对死亡的察觉和强烈恐惧的一种防御性思维。该理论认为：所有人类都有自我保护倾向，但我们是一种独特的物种，因为我们具有象征性思维能力。
This symbolic thought allows us to consider the future and reflect on the past. This brings about the realization that death is inevitable and cannot be controlled. This realization causes incredible fear and anxiety which humans must then manage.
象征性思维能力让我们能够思考未来、反思过去。这就让我们能够意识到死亡时不可避免的、不可控制的。这就导致了强烈恐惧与焦虑感，而且人类必须要能够控制这种恐惧和焦虑。
Terror Management Theory explains how we manage this fear. It supposes that this fear and anxiousness cause people to adopt certain worldviews which protect self-esteem, self-worth, and sustainability. These worldviews then, in turn, cause behaviors in people which may vary from culture to culture.
恐惧管理理论解释了我们如何管理这种恐惧。根据该理论，这种恐惧和焦虑会导致人们采取特定能够保护自尊感、自我价值感和自我可持续性的世界观。这些世界观又随之塑造了人类行为，不同文化之间的行为可能存在不同。
2 Where does the Terror Management Theory come from? 理论起源
Ernest Becker developed the concept in 1973, although it was not called this. Becker wrote The Denial of Death which addressed the tendency of humans to reject death and try to avoid it.
In The Worm at the Core, Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon and Tom Pyszczynski developed what is now known as Terror Management Theory. This book reviews the myriad of scientific papers and research which support Becker’s central claim that the fear of death is ‘the mainspring of human activity.’
Ernest Becker在1973年最早提出了这一概念，虽然当时还不是这一名称。Becker 的著作《The Denial of Geath》探讨了人类拒绝死亡和试图避免死亡的倾向。
在《The Worm at the Core》中， Jeff Greenberg，Sheldon Solomon 和 Tom Pyszczynski 提出了当今我们所知的恐惧管理理论。该书综述了支持 Becker核心主张（对死亡的恐惧是人类活动的主要动力）的各种科学论文与研究。
There are now more than 500 studies on the subject. Each examines a different facet of human behavior associated with a fear of death, such as aggression, stereotyping, self-awareness and much, much more. Research shows that the fear of death can affect our behavior without us even realizing it, making research into Terror Management Theory incredibly important.
目前对这一主题有500多项研究。每项研究都侧重了与死亡恐惧相关的人类行为中的某个不同侧面，比如攻击性、思维固化、自我觉察以及其他众多侧面。研究显示，对死亡的恐惧会在我们意识不到的情形下影响我们的行为，这就让对恐惧管理理论的研究变得无比重要。
There are three lines of research which provide empirical support for Terror Management Theory:
目前有三种研究方向为恐惧管理理论提供了实证（来自于实际观察和实际经验经历而非理论）支持。
- Higher self-esteem has a direct link to lower anxiety. This highlights that self-esteem offers anxiety relief and physiological arousal.
如自尊感更高，则焦虑感更低。这凸显了自尊感可以缓解焦虑，具有生理唤醒作用。
- When people think about themselves dying, attempts to defend their cultural worldviews becomes stronger. They become increasingly more responsive to similar actions in others and more aggressive to those who are not. Nationalism is a key example of this during wars and times of difficulty.
当人们觉得自己生命将尽时，就会更强烈地试图去捍卫自己文化的世界观。他们变得越来越强烈响应其他人的类似行为，越来越强烈攻击行为与自己不同的人群。在战争和困难时期，民族主义就是这种现象的一个典型例子。
- Research shows that when cultural beliefs or self-esteem is threatened, non-conscious thoughts of death come to mind more frequently.
研究显示，当文化信念与自尊感受到威胁时，非有意识的死亡念头会更频繁在大脑中浮现。
All of this is to say that the Terror Management Theory has a profound effect on our behaviors as an attempt to quell the fear of death.
所有这些都是为了表明，为压制对死亡的恐惧而开展的恐惧管理对我们的行为具有深刻影响，
3 How does our terror of death affect our behavior? 我们对死亡的恐惧是如何影响我们行为的？
Terror Management Theory attempts to explain human attempts to manage the terror of death through the development of cultural worldviews. Worldviews are human formed systems of belief shared by individuals which attempt to minimize the fear of death. They do so by attributing meaning and value to different people, objects and rituals.
All cultures offer their own explanation of the value of human life in the universe. They each have a system of acceptable behaviors and reassure people with the promise of immortality for those who comply. We accept these systems in different religions and cultural norms which allow us to feel we will not be forgotten or somehow live on.
恐惧管理理论试图从文化世界观的形成这一角度来解释人类尝试管理对死亡之恐惧的倾向。世界观是指人类形成的、不同个体共同持有的、旨在最大化减少对死亡之恐惧的信念体系。之所以能发挥这一作用，是因为世界观可以为不同人、物和仪式赋予意义和价值。
对于人类生命在宇宙中有何价值，不同文化有着不同的解释。每种文化都有着一套独有的行为标准体系，并对遵守这些体系的人许诺永生。我们会去接受那些让我们感到我们不会被遗忘、会以某种方式永生的不同宗教和文化规范中的这类行为体系。
4 We can gain immortality either literally or symbolically 我们能够获得字面意义上或象征意义上的永生
Literal immortality is provided by the belief of souls, heavens and the afterlife. Some religions even offer reincarnation for those who are particularly virtuous in the eyes of that religion.
字面意义上的永生，来自于关于灵魂、天堂和来生的信念。一些宗教甚至认为，那些最虔诚的信徒，可以重新转世。
Symbolic immortality provided by ideas of a great nation, building expansive fortunes, having children and making important accomplishments. Although they do not promise us life after death, they reassure us that we will not be forgotten and somehow live on.
象征意义上的永生，来自于感觉属于一个伟大的国家、积累大量财富、生儿育女、获得显赫成就。尽管这些并不会许诺我们有来世，但会慰藉我们在我们死后我们并不会被遗忘，我们的生命会以某种形式延续下去。
Terror Management Theory also attempts to explain why individuals perceive themselves of persons of greater value. It causes people to form deep bonds within their own cultural group to boost their self-esteem and personal significance. It is these tight bonds with our respective social groups which can lead to stereotyping and discrimination. This is because we like to think of our own group as being somewhat superior.
恐惧管理理论同时还尝试解释了人们为何会高估自己的价值。这会让人们对自己的文化群体产生深深的亲密感，因为这样可以助长他们的自尊感和个人重要性。正是这种对各自社交群体的深深亲密感可能会导致固化偏见和歧视。这是因为我们喜欢将自己的群体视为更优越群体。
Fear of death is a global feeling. It is a natural human reaction to the inevitability that life comes to an end. What is interesting is how it can divide us into cultures fearing and feeling threatened by one another. We all react differently to the anxious thoughts of our inevitable demise.
对死亡的恐惧是一种普遍存在的感觉。这是人类对生命不可避免终结这一事实的自然反应。有趣的是它如何将我们划分为一个个互相害怕和互相觉得被威胁的文化群体。我们对不可避免之死亡的焦虑想法，都有着不同的反应。
Terror Management Theory attempts to explain human determination to forge a place in history. True immortality may or may not be possible. Yet, somehow, if we feel as though we will be remembered, we somehow mitigate the real effects of death.
恐惧管理理论试图解释了人类想要在历史中留下自己位置的这种决心。真正的永生可能、也或者不可能实现，但是，在某种方式上，如果我们感到好像我们会被铭记住，我们就在某种意义上弱化了死亡的真正影响。