A belief in progress protects against existential anxiety
A belief in moral and social progress protects people from existential anxiety. As University of Amsterdam researcher Bastiaan Rutjens has observed, a belief in progress operates in the same way as a religious belief in this respect.
A belief in moral and social progress protects people from existential anxiety. As University of Amsterdam researcher Bastiaan Rutjens has observed, a belief in progress operates in the same way as a religious belief in this respect. He recently published his findings in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.Rutjens decided to research the power of a belief in progress based on the theories of the philosopher John Gray. Gray is convinced that human progress in an ethical or social sense is an illusion. According to Gray, people use a belief in progress to protect themselves against existential anxieties. This is reminiscent of what the social psychological Terror Management Theory says about religion. ‘I wanted to test that theory in practice', Rutjens explains. ‘We did this by conducting three experiments. In the first experiment we had some of our test subjects reflect on their own mortality, while the rest did not. The groups were then given an essay to read based on the work of John Gray. The people who had had to reflect on their own mortality turned out to be more negative about the author than the others. Our hypothesis was that people who are primed for death, embrace belief in human progress more warmly. This indeed turned out to be the case.'
In the second experiment some of the test subjects were given the same essay based on John Gray to read, while the others were given a critical piece on the functioning of Dutch Railways. After that, both groups took part in a ‘finish the words off' assignment. The Gray readers came up with considerably more words having to do with death than the readers of the article on Dutch Railways. ‘The Gray readers felt threatened in their belief in progress and therefore made more associations with death. These outcomes also confirmed the fact that belief in progress works like a buffer against existential anxiety.'
Lastly, in the third experiment, belief in progress was manipulated by means of a short text on finding solutions for environmental pollution and on improving quality of life. The corresponding assignment was to think up four examples of human progress. The test subjects were then asked to reflect on their own death, after which they were given a very negative anti-Western article to read. The outcome of that experiment was new and striking. ‘Normally people who are primed with death are a lot more inclined to aggressively defend their own world view. That phenomenon is referred to as cultural worldview defence. However, in this case, the positive article on human progress appears to act as a buffer. People responded a lot less aggressively to the anti-Western article.' The conclusion is that belief in progress protects people against existential anxiety in the same way that religion does in the case of religious believers.
Though this was a basic study, Rutjens thinks the outcomes can certainly be of use in practical situations. ‘Cultural worldview defence as a reaction to, for example, anti-Western enunciations causes polarisation. After all, people are inclined to defend their worldview and their own group aggressively. Belief in progress can reduce or prevent polarisation. In addition, certain therapies against existential anxiety and depression could perhaps use belief in progress as a secular alternative to religion.'
Author: Esther van Bochove, FMG Communication Department