Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

A positive relationship was hypothesized between acceptance of death, strength of motivation, breadth of time perspective, and self-fulfillment in creative artists. This hypothesis was based on the assumption that fear of death inhibits orientation toward the future and thereby tends to restrict movement toward achievement and self-fulfillment. By contrast, acceptance of death and awareness of one's finitude is thought to act as a galvanizing force, impelling one toward creativity and accomplishment. Interviews were conducted with ten individuals ranked as outstanding creative artists in their fields, and a control group of ten other respondents. Findings in this preliminary study suggest some differences between the two groups in the hypothesized direction.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Feifel

, Attitudes Towards Death in Some Normal and Mentally Ill Populations, in Feifel

(ed.), The Meaning of Death, McGraw Hill, N.Y., 1965.

Kaufmann

, Existentialism and Death, in Feifel

(ed.), The Meaning of Death, McGraw Hill, N.Y., 1965.

Kastenbaum

Aisenberg

R. B.

, The Psychology of Death, Springer, N.Y., 1972.

de Montaigne

, That to Philosophize is to Learn How to Die, The Complete Essays of Montaigne, Stanford University Press, Palo Alto, Calif., 1965.

Rosenthal

, How Could I Not be Among You?, George Braziller, N.Y., 1973.

Ehrenberg

, Theoretische Biologie, Springer, Berlin, 1923.

Alvarez

, The Savage God, Random House, N.Y., 1970.

Bloom

, Death and the Native Strain in American Poetry, Social Research, 39:3, pp. 449–462, 1972.

Gottlieb

, Modern Art and Death, in Feifel

(ed.), The Meaning of Death, McGraw Hill, N.Y., 1965.

10.

Lamont

, The Double Apprenticeship: Life and the Process of Dying, in Wyschorgrod

(ed.), The Phenomenon of Death, Harper & Row, N.Y., 1973.

11.

Nelson

, The Games of Life and the Dances of Death, in Wyschorgrod

(ed.), The Phenomenon of Death, Harper & Row, N.Y., 1973.

12.

Rosner

Abt

L. E.

, The Creative Experience, Grossman, N.Y., 1970.

13.

Eissler

K. R.

, The Psychiatrist and the Dying Patient, Int. Univ. Press, N.Y., 1955.

14.

Burt

, Foreword, in Koestler

, The Act of Creation, Macmillan, N.Y., 1964.

Attitudes towards Death in Creative Artists

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References