Laura Blackie
Special guest
Laura Blackie is a psychologist who studies how people adjust and find meaning from challenging life experiences. Laura’s research is particularly focused on understanding the social circumstances and personality characteristics that enable some individuals to experience positive personality change and psychological growth when overcoming distressing life experiences. Laura hopes that research into the underlying causal mechanisms that facilitate psychological growth in this context can eventually be used in clinical practice and interventions.
Laura Blackie has been a guest on 1 episode.
-
Episode 3: On Death (with Laura Blackie)
April 25th, 2018 | 53 mins 40 secs
culture, death, death reflection, laura blackie, psychology, socio-emotional selectivity theory, terror management theory, wisdom
Why do we avoid thinking about our own death? How does contemplating our own mortality change our day-to-day behaviour? Why do drivers, when reminded of the fact that they will die, actually drive even faster? Whilst society typically hides death from us, might certain death reflection scenarios actually lead to the development of wisdom? Laura Blackie has considered these and many related questions, and joins Igor and Charles to discuss Terror Management Theory, Death Reflection, and the potential upsides of contemplating our own demise. Igor dismisses a death clock which tells him he won't live as long as Charles, Laura outlines the possible prosocial benefits of imagining a painful and horrible death, and Charles admits to spending too much time thinking about whether his funeral will be well attended. Welcome to Episode 3.