Recently, an uprising in Tunisia started with a man self-immolating (dying by setting oneself on fire). This particular form of protest is not new, nor is the broader idea of self-sacrificing for an ideological or social cause (e.g., the Japanese kamikaze, suicide bombers, fasting). However, it is perplexing considering that humans, like all forms of life, strive for self-preservation. Social scientists in particular have struggled with the notion of self-sacrifice because, from an evolutionary perspective, humans should be strongly inclined to want to avoid death (in the service of genetic replication). An evolutionary account can explain why people would die for their children (to protect their genes). But why would people be willing to die for a cause that has little direct impact on personal physical survival and genetic replication?
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nt social psychological theory called terror management theory offers one explanation of people's willingness to self-sacrifice for an ideological cause. According to the theory, people, like all other animals, are motivated to avoid death. However, humans are unique in that we are intellectual animals that posses that cognitive horsepower required to fully understand our mortal condition. Said simply, we are unique in that we know we are going to die someday. Even worse, we realize that we can die at anytime for reasons that we often cannot predict or control. A deadly tumor could be growing in me right now. I could get hit by a bus walking across my college campus today. I could be the victim of a deadly public shooting or a terrorist attack. I know these things, and yet, I am able to live a normal life. Like most people, I do not constantly fear my demise. According to terror management theory, this knowledge of mortality could be paralyzing, but is not (for most people) because humans are able to manage the potential terror associated with an awareness of death. But how? And what does this have to do with self-sacrifice?
First, the how. The theory builds from a long tradition of anthropological, sociological, and psychological theory that proposes that humans cope with the potential anxiety aroused by death by investing in cultural belief systems or worldviews that make us feel more transcendent (immortal) and less transient (mortal). For example, religious worldviews tell us that we are not merely biological organisms destined to die and decay. We are creatures with souls or some form of enduring self that outlives our bodies. Secular ideologies also make us feel less finite. For example, national and other social identities allow us to feel like we are part of something larger and more meaningful than ourselves. In this way, contributing to our nation, community, company, family and other groups makes us believe that though we will die, part of us will live on through these institutions.
This takes us to the concept of self-sacrifice. According to terror management theory, since death is ultimately unavoidable, people may be willing to sacrifice themselves as a means to protect or promote an ideological or social cause that enhances a sense of personal meaning and, ultimately, a feeling of self-transcendence or immortality. Remember the movie Troy? There was a scene in which Achilles (played by Brad Pitt) was consulting with his mother on whether or not he should go into battle against Troy. His mother told him that if he did not, he would have a good life and live to an old age. However, if he did go to war, he would die, but he would be remembered through the ages. In other words, his actions would long outlive his mortal body. So he could live a long life and not be remembered or live a short life and become a legend. This is perhaps a silly illustration, but it nicely captures the idea of self-sacrifice or at least some forms of it. Self-sacrifice for a cause can give people an opportunity to transcend death, at least symbolically, by demonstrating their total commitment to something that is larger and more significant (and thus enduring) than physical lives.
Recent research supports this perspective. For example, in an experiment I conducted in England, I found that British participants who were asked to think about their mortality expressed a greater willingness to die for England than British participants were not reminded of their mortality. In other words, when an awareness of physical death was heightened, people showed an increased willingness to die for something that would transcend death (i.e. their nation). Other studies have found similar results in Iran, China, and the United States. More recent research I have conducted with colleagues further supports terror management theory by demonstrating that the more one's sense of self is tied to a broader group, the more he or she is willing to die for that group when thinking about his or her own mortality.
Humans are oriented towards survival. Most of us want to live and go to great lengths to avoid death. However, we all do little things that suggest we are also greatly concerned with making some sort of contribution that will allow us to transcend death in some way. Ironically, sometimes these self-transcendence efforts increase our risk of death (see my other post on tanning). Self-sacrifice is perhaps the most extreme example of this. Dying for a cause is a powerful but deadly way to defy mortality.
Further reading:
Routledge, C. & Arndt, J. (2008). Self-sacrifice as self-defense: Mortality salience increases efforts to affirm a symbolic immortal self at the expense of the physical self. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38, 531 - 541.
