Developing beliefs that are compatible with death: revising our assumptions about predictability, control, and continuity.

Abstract

Many of us assume that life is highly predictable, subject to our control, and destined to continue indefinitely. Although such perspectives on life afford us a sense of security, these views tend to be incompatible with the experience of death. This article outlines the benefits of assimilating death into our belief systems and explores problems with waiting to alter our beliefs until after confrontation with death. Next, the article describes how we can use the strategy of imagining our own death or the death of loved ones as a means of making our beliefs more compatible with death. Options are then presented for overcoming resistances to imagining loss. Finally, the article proposes alternate ways of conceptualizing issues of predictability, control, and continuity; it addresses procedures for sustaining new beliefs in these areas; and it lists limitations associated with attempting to adopt such beliefs.