Life after death: evidence of the Hoover Dam as a hero project that defends against mortality reminders

Ross, H. C.; Wolfe, S. E.

doi:10.1007/s12685-015-0151-9

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…One such example is the Hoover Dam; it is still considered a major accomplishment and is a National Historical Landmark many decades after its completion. Ross and Wolfe (2016) analyzed the language used in articles, quotes, and speeches about the Hoover Dam before, during, and after its construction and found strong evidence that mortality salience was a motivating factor for people involved at all levels of the project. The importance of being a part of a larger project that continues to help later generations can also be related to Gabora and Steel’s (2017) cultural evolution: Passing along ideas to the future can offer the same personal gratification and symbolic immortality as seeing one’s genetic progeny live on.…”

Section: Three Pathways To Creative Meaningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Finding Meaning With Creativity in the Past, Present, and Future

Kaufman

2018

Perspect Psychol Sci

109

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Being creative is considered a desirable trait, yet most empirical studies emphasize how to increase creativity rather than explore its possible benefits. A natural connection is how creativity can enhance life's meaning. Many of the core concepts in work on the meaning of life, such as the needs for coherence, significance, and purpose or the desire for symbolic immortality, can be reached through creative activity. The synthesis of these two constructs-creativity and the meaning of life-is discussed with a temporal model encompassing past, present, and future pathways to creativity. The past pathway can help one understand and reflect on life. The present pathway can remind one of life's joy and the many possible connections with humanity. Finally, the future pathway strives to ensure some type of legacy that may resonate with younger generations.

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Section: Three Pathways To Creative Meaningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Finding Meaning With Creativity in the Past, Present, and Future

Kaufman

2018

Perspect Psychol Sci

109

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“…Support personnel are not limited to the arts, of course. Ross and Wolfe (2016) analyze the Hoover Dam as a “hero project” (a term coined by E. Becker, 1973).…”

Section: The Case Of Shadow Creativitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Support personnel are not limited to the arts, of course. Ross and Wolfe (2016) analyze the Hoover Dam as a "hero project" (a term coined by E. Becker, 1973). Such large-scale, Big-C endeavors have a profound impact on everyone working on them at all levels of involvement and eminence (Kaufman, 2018).…”

Section: Sparkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making the CASE for shadow creativity.

Kaufman

Glăveanu

2022

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

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In this article we focus on systematically overlooked forms of creative expression and propose the CASE model to account for them and the reasons why they often go unrecognized. This model points us to four main reasons why creative outcomes can easily remain in the shadows or go unrecognized even if they demonstrate novelty and usefulness to different degrees. These are: lack of capital (C); lack of awareness of being creative or doing creative work (A); lack of spark or of having the original creative idea (S); and lack of exceptionality or the property of visibly standing out from other productions (E). Each one of these is discussed and exemplified given that lacking one or more of the above dimensions significantly decreases the chances of the contributions being considered creative, or even potentially creative, by the outside world or even the creator. We conclude with some reflections on why appreciating shadow creativities can foster personal development as well as increase social justice for the benefit of all.

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“…For example, water infrastructure is obviously built to control water for the practical purposes of supply or energy provision. But infrastructure is also an example of societies' distal defenses against mortality reminders, vulnerability, and future uncertainty (Ross and Wolfe 2016). Infrastructure examples abound, including everything from the Roman Empire's aqueducts, grand canal projects (e.g., Suez and Panama), water diversion infrastructure (e.g., Mulholland's 1920s California), and major dam structures (e.g., the Hoover Dam during the U.S. Depression; Aswan Dam post-1952 Egypt).…”

Section: Emotions and Decision Makingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Walkerton revisited: how our psychological defenses may influence responses to water crises

Côté¹,

Ross²,

David³

et al. 2017

E&S

Self Cite

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ABSTRACT. When the drinking water in Walkerton, Ontario (2000) was contaminated-sending 65 people to hospital and killing seven people-outrage and recriminations quickly reached the provincial Parliament and Toronto media outlets. But beyond the politics and policy, Walkerton illustrated something more fundamental to the human condition. We used the Walkerton case to examine how the media crisis coverage used negatively charged and fear emotions to engage their readers about the contamination of Walkerton's water. Using the terror management theory (TMT) framework and content analysis, we analyzed 15 yr of national and local print media coverage of Walkerton's water contamination. Our analysis provides insight on the presence of mortality fears and considers the possible influence of human responses (e.g., proximal and distal defenses) to water crises on individual and societal decisions. Failure to recognize the intrinsic role of emotions in water decisions and policy could undermine efforts to respond to climatic uncertainties, water demands, and extreme events that will intensify and threaten our water security.

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Life after death: evidence of the Hoover Dam as a hero project that defends against mortality reminders

Cited by 6 publications

References 89 publications

Finding Meaning With Creativity in the Past, Present, and Future

Finding Meaning With Creativity in the Past, Present, and Future

Making the CASE for shadow creativity.

Walkerton revisited: how our psychological defenses may influence responses to water crises

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