ABSTRACT
According to the Terror Management theory (TMT), a main defense against death is identification with cultural values that increases self-esteem. Self-esteem acts as a buffer in this interpretation. If death is a threat to meaning, a logical way for the threatened individual would be to “renounce meaning” in order to defend oneself. Moreover, if this threat becomes more prominent in older age, the authors should see more of the tendency to renounce meaning and to see more withdrawal from basic life projects. Rather than renouncing meaning to defend against death one can use death to infuse meaning in his or her life. It is precisely because “success” in the realization of a sense of purpose and meaning in life is not guaranteed, that counseling of the older adult is important.
