Wisdom as the Mediator in the Relationships Between Meaning in Life and Attitude Toward Death

Abstract

The goal of the presented research was to investigate if wisdom plays a mediating role in the relationships between meaning in life and the attitude toward death in the period of middle and late adulthood. A study was carried out that included 567 persons aged 40 to 75 years. Three measures were used: Personal Meaning Profile, Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale, and Death Attitude Profile-Revised. The conducted analyses allowed the authors to confirm the mediating role of wisdom in the relationships between meaning in life and fear of death as well as death avoidance in persons during the period of middle and late adulthood.

Attitude Toward Death From the Perspective of Erik Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Ego Development: An Unused Potential

“…Despite this difference, some key concepts for psychosocial and existential theory seem to be interrelated and "are part of a common nomological web associated with the nature of wellbeing" (Waterman, 2014, p. 43). In fact, it seems that Erikson's model allows for a better understanding and explanation of a number of existential issues, shedding light on such questions as (a) the continuity of the sense of self in time and the consistency of functioning in the important areas of life based on personal decisions, values, and goals; (b) the importance of commitment for well-being; and (c) the determinants of attitude toward death (Waterman, 2014;Brudek & Sekowski, 2019;Se Rkowski, 2019).…”

“…Essentially, in late adulthood, the perspective of death can cause two types of effects: on the one hand, it stimulates the growth of ego synthesis and life wisdom; and on the other, it arouses terror and a sense of disintegration. Ambivalence in the field of attitude toward death is one of the key dimensions of the developmental crisis of the old age: ego integrity versus despair (Brudek & Sekowski, 2019;Se Rkowski, 2019). As Erikson points out, the awareness, acceptance, and integration of the inevitability of one's death is a key component of maturity in life (Erikson, 1950(Erikson, , 1959(Erikson, , 1968Erikson & Erikson, 1997).…”

“…As I mentioned, this is the only area where the potential of the theory of psychosocial development in the study of attitude toward death has been largely exploited. Vast majority of research confirms the negative relationship between ego integrity or wisdom and fear of death/ denial of death, as well as the positive relationship of positive ego features of the old age with the acceptance of death (Ardelt, 2008;Ardelt et al, 2013;Goebel & Boeck, 1987;Nehrke et al, 1977Nehrke et al, -1978Parker, 2013;Woods & Witte, 1981;Brudek & Sekowski, 2019;Se Rkowski, 2019). These results suggest that Erikson (1959) is right in saying that a strong ego is inclined to recognize what is necessary in life; this principle also applies to the ultimate necessity of death.…”

“…I will point out that application of Erikson's concept may help exceed the limitations of most previous studies on this subject. Because attitude toward death is a classical object of existential psychology research (Becker, 1973;Frankl, 1986;Greenberg et al, 1986;May, 1976;Tomer, 2012;Yalom, 1980), I will subsequently discuss philosophical views underlying the theory of psychosocial development, indicating that this concept allows one to employ the essentialist perspective of ego psychology to refer to the key existential problem that is attitude toward death (Waterman, 2014;Brudek & Sekowski, 2019;Se Rkowski, 2019). Next, I will propose the use of the defense mechanisms model to study death attitude within Erikson's theory.…”

Gender Effect on Views of Wisdom and Wisdom Levels

“…The difference between genders is mainly reflected in the affective dimension of wisdom (as shown in Table 2 and Figure 2 ). Using 3D-WS, researchers found that women scored significantly higher than men on the affective dimension ( Cheraghi et al, 2015 ; Brudek and Sekowski, 2019 ). This dimension refers to showing compassion, benevolence, positive emotions and behavior toward people, and the motivation to promote their wellbeing.…”