Editing Fear (section)

==Society and culture==
[[File:Guido Reni - Massacre of the Innocents detail3 - Pinacoteca Nazionale Bologna.jpg|thumb|Painting by [[Guido Reni]] {{Circa|1611}}]]

=== Death ===
{{Main|Fear of death}}
The fear of the end of life and its existence is, in other words, the fear of death. Historically, attempts were made to reduce this fear by performing rituals which have helped collect the cultural ideas that we now have in the present.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} These rituals also helped preserve the cultural ideas. The results and methods of human existence had been changing at the same time that social formation was changing.

When people are faced with their own thoughts of death, they either accept that they are dying or will die because they have lived a full life or they will experience fear. A theory was developed in response to this, which is called the [[terror management theory]]. The theory states that a person's cultural worldviews (religion, values, etc.) will mitigate the terror associated with the fear of death through avoidance. To help manage their terror, they find solace in their death-denying beliefs, such as their religion. Another way people cope with their death related fears is pushing any thoughts of death into the future or by avoiding these thoughts all together through distractions.<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors = Goldenberg JL, Pyszczynski T, Greenberg J, Solomon S |s2cid=31331978|date=August 2000|title=Fleeing the Body: A Terror Management Perspective on the Problem of Human Corporeality|journal=Personality and Social Psychology Review|volume=4|issue=3|pages=200–218|doi=10.1207/s15327957pspr0403_1|issn=1088-8683}}</ref> Although there are methods for one coping with the terror associated with their fear of death, not everyone suffers from these same uncertainties. People who believe they have lived life to the "fullest" typically do not fear death.

Death anxiety is multidimensional; it covers "fears related to one's own death, the death of others, fear of the unknown after death, fear of obliteration, and fear of the dying process, which includes fear of a slow death and a painful death".<ref name="Fry">{{cite journal | vauthors = Fry PS | title = Perceived self-efficacy domains as predictors of fear of the unknown and fear of dying among older adults | journal = Psychology and Aging | volume = 18 | issue = 3 | pages = 474–486 | date = September 2003 | pmid = 14518809 | doi = 10.1037/0882-7974.18.3.474 }}</ref>

The [[Yale]] philosopher [[Shelly Kagan]] examined fear of death in a 2007 Yale open course<ref name="Kagan">[[Shelly Kagan|Kagan, Shelly]]. [http://oyc.yale.edu/philosophy/phil-176/lecture-22 Lecture 22: Fear of Death] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309221733/http://oyc.yale.edu/philosophy/phil-176/lecture-22|date=2012-03-09}} in [http://oyc.yale.edu/philosophy/phil-176/lecture-1 PHIL 176: Death] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170609203506/http://oyc.yale.edu/philosophy/phil-176/lecture-1|date=2017-06-09}}. Yale Open Course 2007.</ref> by examining the following questions: Is fear of death a reasonable appropriate response? What conditions are required and what are appropriate conditions for feeling fear of death? What is meant by fear, and how much fear is appropriate? According to Kagan for fear in general to make sense, three conditions should be met:

# the object of fear needs to be "something bad"
# there needs to be a non-negligible chance that the bad state of affairs will happen
# there needs to be some uncertainty about the bad state of affairs

The amount of fear should be appropriate to the size of "the bad". If the three conditions are not met, fear is an inappropriate emotion. He argues, that death does not meet the first two criteria, even if death is a "deprivation of good things" and even if one believes in a painful afterlife. Because death is certain, it also does not meet the third criterion, but he grants that the unpredictability of when one dies ''may'' be cause to a sense of fear.<ref name="Kagan" />

In a 2003 study of 167 women and 121 men, aged 65–87, low [[self-efficacy]] predicted fear of the unknown after death and fear of dying for women and men better than demographics, social support, and physical health. Fear of death was measured by a "Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale" which included the 8 subscales Fear of Dying, Fear of the Dead, Fear of Being Destroyed, Fear for Significant Others, Fear of the Unknown, Fear of Conscious Death, Fear for the Body After Death, and Fear of Premature Death. In [[hierarchical multiple regression]] analysis, the most potent predictors of death fears were low "spiritual health efficacy", defined as beliefs relating to one's perceived ability to generate spiritually based faith and inner strength, and low "instrumental efficacy", defined as beliefs relating to one's perceived ability to manage activities of daily living.<ref name="Fry" />

Psychologists have tested the hypotheses that fear of death motivates religious commitment, and that assurances about an afterlife alleviate the fear, with equivocal results.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} Religiosity can be related to fear of death when the afterlife is portrayed as time of punishment. "Intrinsic religiosity", as opposed to mere "formal religious involvement", has been found to be negatively correlated with death anxiety.<ref name="Fry" /> In a 1976 study of people of various Christian denominations, those who were most firm in their faith, who attended religious services weekly, were the least afraid of dying. The survey found a negative correlation between fear of death and "religious concern".<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors = Kahoe RD, Dunn RF |year=1976|title=The fear of death and religious attitudes and behavior|journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion|volume=14|issue=4|pages=379–382|doi=10.2307/1384409|jstor=1384409}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=citation is not peer-reviewed|date=February 2014}}

In a 2006 study of white, Christian men and women the hypothesis was tested that traditional, church-centered religiousness and de-institutionalized spiritual seeking are ways of approaching fear of death in old age. Both religiousness and spirituality were related to positive psychosocial functioning, but only church-centered religiousness protected subjects against the fear of death.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Bassett JF, Bussard ML | title = Examining the Complex Relation Among Religion, Morality, and Death Anxiety: Religion Can Be a Source of Comfort and Concern Regarding Fears of Death | journal = Omega | volume = 82 | issue = 3 | pages = 467–487 | date = February 2021 | pmid = 30572785 | doi = 10.1177/0030222818819343 | s2cid = 58619649 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors = Wink P |year=2006|title=Who is afraid of death? Religiousness, spirituality, and death anxiety in late adulthood|journal=Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging|volume=18|issue=2|pages=93–110|doi=10.1300/J496v18n02_08|s2cid=144684731}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=citation is not peer-reviewed|date=February 2014}}

=== Religion ===
{{See also|Fear of God|Category:Religion and death}}

[[Statius]] in the [[Thebaid (Latin poem)|''Thebaid'']] (Book 3, line 661) aired the irreverent suggestion that "fear first made gods in the world".<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Minnis
 |first1               = Alastair
 |author-link1         = Alastair Minnis
 |editor-last1         = Copeland
 |editor-first1        = Rita
 |year                 = 2012
 |chapter              = Other Worlds: Chaucer's Classicism
 |title                = The Oxford History of Classical Reception in English Literature
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=iXxYCwAAQBAJ
 |volume               = 1: 800-1558
 |publication-place    = Oxford
 |publisher            = Oxford University Press
 |page                 = 426
 |isbn                 = 9780199587230
 |access-date          = 4 November 2023
 |quote                = [...] the remark 'Primus in orbe deos fecit timor' ('fear first made gods in the world') is uttered by [[Capaneus]], a madman and blasphemer [...].
}} 
</ref>

From a Christian theological perspective, the word ''fear'' can encompass more than simple dread. Robert B. Strimple says that fear includes the "... convergence of awe, reverence, adoration, humility..".<ref>{{Cite web | vauthors = Strimple RB | url= http://www.opc.org/new_horizons/NH01/03a.html | title= The Fear of the Lord | publisher = The Orthodox Presbyterian Church }}</ref> Some [[Bible translations|translations of the Bible]], such as the [[New International Version]], sometimes express the concept of ''fear'' with the word ''reverence''.

A similar phrase, "God-fearing", is sometimes used as a rough synonym for "pious".  It is a standard translation for the [[Arabic language|Arabic]] word [[taqwa]] ({{langx|ar|تقوى}}; "forbearance, restraint"<ref>{{cite web |title=TAQWA: Fearing Allah |url=http://www.ahya.org/amm/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=154 |website=AHYA.ORG - Authentic Islamic Resources and Information |access-date=2015-08-03 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304131052/http://www.ahya.org/amm/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=154 |archive-date=2016-03-04}}</ref>) in [[Muslim]] contexts.<ref>[http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/takwa-COM_1457?s.num=1&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-2&s.q=takwa "Taḳwā"],''[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]'' (2012).</ref>  In [[Judaism]], "fear of God" describes obedience to [[Jewish law]] even when invisible to others.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0006_0_06302.html|title=Fear of God|publisher=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org|access-date=12 January 2015}}</ref>

=== Manipulation ===
{{Further|Culture of fear|Fearmongering|Fear appeal|Psychological warfare|Tactics of terrorism#Fear|List of causes of death by rate}}
Fear may be politically and culturally manipulated to persuade citizenry of ideas which would otherwise be widely rejected or dissuade citizenry from ideas which would otherwise be widely supported. In contexts of disasters, nation-states manage the fear not only to provide their citizens with an explanation about the event or blaming some minorities, but also to adjust their previous beliefs.

Fear can alter how a person thinks or reacts to situations because fear has the power to inhibit one's rational way of thinking. As a result, people who do not experience fear, are able to use fear as a tool to manipulate others. People who are experiencing fear, seek preservation through safety and can be manipulated by a person who is there to provide that safety that is being sought after. "When we're afraid, a manipulator can talk us out of the truth we see right in front of us. Words become more real than reality"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://psychopathsandlove.com/fear-and-manipulation/|title=Fear and Manipulation: Perfect Together |website=psychopathsandlove.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-11-27|date=November 2014}}</ref> By this, a manipulator can use our fear to manipulate us out the truth and instead make us believe and trust in their truth. Politicians are notorious for using fear to manipulate the people into supporting their policies. This strategy taps into primal human emotions, leveraging fear of the unknown, external threats, or perceived dangers to influence decision-making.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lupia|first1=Arthur|last2=Menning|first2=Jesse O.|date=January 2009|title=When Can Politicians Scare Citizens Into Supporting Bad Policies?|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2008.00359.x|journal=American Journal of Political Science|volume=53|issue=1|pages=90–106|doi=10.1111/j.1540-5907.2008.00359.x|s2cid=13496294 |issn=0092-5853}}</ref>

=== Fiction and mythology ===
{{See also|Dystopia#In society|Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction#In society}}
[[File:COS 09.JPG|thumb|right|200px|A still from the film ''[[Carnival of Souls]]'']]
Fear is found and reflected in [[mythology]] and folklore as well as in works of [[fiction]] such as novels and films.

Works of dystopian and (post)apocalyptic fiction convey the fears and anxieties of societies.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dystopia facts, information, pictures|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/literature-english/english-literature-20th-cent-present/dystopia|website=www.encyclopedia.com|access-date=3 March 2017|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304114045/http://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/literature-english/english-literature-20th-cent-present/dystopia|archive-date=4 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="fever">{{cite book| vauthors = Kyle RG |title=Apocalyptic Fever: End-Time Prophecies in Modern America|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=978-1-62189-410-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p1dJAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA185|access-date=3 March 2017|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225222128/https://books.google.com/books?id=p1dJAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA185|archive-date=25 December 2017|date=2012-08-01}}</ref>

The fear of [[Eschatology|the world's end]] is about as old as civilization itself.<ref name="princetonbuffer">{{cite web| vauthors = Yeung K, Zhang Z  |title = The Neverending Apocalypse|url=https://princetonbuffer.princeton.edu/2014/01/23/the-neverending-apocalypse/|website=The Princeton Buffer|access-date=3 March 2017|date=24 January 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304114155/https://princetonbuffer.princeton.edu/2014/01/23/the-neverending-apocalypse/|archive-date=4 March 2017}}</ref> In a 1967 study, [[Frank Kermode]] suggests that the failure of religious prophecies led to a shift in how society apprehends this ancient mode.<ref name=jstor1>{{cite web | vauthors = Schmidt C |title=Why are Dystopian Films on the Rise Again?|url=https://daily.jstor.org/why-are-dystopian-films-on-the-rise-again/|publisher=|access-date=3 March 2017|date=19 November 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304114038/https://daily.jstor.org/why-are-dystopian-films-on-the-rise-again/|archive-date=4 March 2017}}</ref> Scientific and critical thought supplanting religious and [[Mythopoeic thought|mythical thought]] as well as a public emancipation may be the cause of eschatology becoming replaced by more realistic scenarios. Such might constructively provoke discussion and steps to be taken to prevent depicted [[global catastrophic risk|catastrophes]].

''[[The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was]]'' is a German fairy tale dealing with the topic of not knowing fear.
Many stories also include characters who fear the antagonist of the plot. One important characteristic of historical and mythical [[hero]]es across cultures is to be fearless in the face of big and often lethal enemies.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

''[[The Magnus Archives]]'' is a fiction horror podcast written by Jonathan Sims and directed by Alexander J. Newall that, among other things, formulates an [[archetype|archetypal]] [[ontology]] of fear through the dissemination of case files at a [[paranormal]] research institute set in a world where the [[metaphysics|metaphysical]] basis of paranormal activity and unexplainable horrors is fear incarnate.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Meszaros |first=E. L. |date=2020-09-23 |title=The Magnus Archives: A Beginner's Guide to the Popular Horror Podcast |url=https://www.cbr.com/magnus-archives-horror-podcast-beginners-guide/ |website=CBR |language=en-US |archive-date=1 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101043304/https://www.cbr.com/magnus-archives-horror-podcast-beginners-guide/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The diegesis states that true categorization of fear is impossible, that fear is all one unknowable thing;<ref>{{cite web | title= The Magnus Archives Episode 80 Transcript: The Librarian | url=https://snarp.github.io/magnus_archives_transcripts/episode/080.html | website= The Magnus Archives Transcripts Archive Archive A }}</ref> however, there exists an ontological structure of fear archetypes in this universe proposed by a fictional version of the architect [[Robert Smirke (architect)|Robert Smirke]]. It is a unique construction of fear in that it is not based on the science or neurology of fear, but on thematic and experiential connections between different phobias. For example, the fear of disease and vermin comes from the same place as the fear of abusive relationships, as both lie in fearing corruptions to the self.<ref>{{cite web | title= The Magnus Archives Episode 35 Transcript: Hive | url=https://snarp.github.io/magnus_archives_transcripts/episode/032.html | website= The Magnus Archives Transcripts Archive Archive A }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title= The Magnus Archives Episode 102 Transcript: Nesting Instinct | url=https://snarp.github.io/magnus_archives_transcripts/episode/102.html | website= The Magnus Archives Transcripts Archive Archive A }}</ref> The final season of the podcast consists almost entirely of [[poetry|poetic]] meditations on the nature of fear.

Fear in art has been explored by the Japanese scholar [[Kyōko Nakano|Kyoko Nakano]], in a series of books and a 2017 exhibition about ''kowai-e'' (lit. scary pictures).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hudson |first=Sue |date=2017-09-08 |title='Fear' in Many Forms: Exhibit Based on 'Kowai-e' Series {{!}} JAPAN Forward |url=https://japan-forward.com/fear-in-many-forms-exhibit-based-on-kowai-e-series-comes-to-kobe-and-tokyo/ |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=japan-forward.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Athletics ===
In the world of athletics, fear is often used as a means of motivation to not fail.<ref name="Conroy, D.E. 2001">{{cite journal | vauthors = Conroy DE, Poczwardowski A, Henschen KP | year = 2001 | title = Evaluative criteria and consequences associated with failure and success for elite athletes and performing artists | journal = Journal of Applied Sport Psychology | volume = 13 | issue = 3| pages = 300–322 | doi=10.1080/104132001753144428| s2cid = 146422220 }}</ref> This situation involves using fear in a way that increases the chances of a positive outcome. In this case, the fear that is being created is initially a cognitive state to the receiver.<ref name="Lazarus, R.S. 1991">{{cite book | vauthors = Lazarus RS | date = 1991 | title = Emotion and Adaptation | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = New York }}</ref> This initial state is what generates the first response of the athlete, this response generates a possibility of fight or flight reaction by the athlete (receiver), which in turn will increase or decrease the possibility of success or failure in the certain situation for the athlete.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Birney RC, Burdick H, Teevan RC | date = 1969 | title = Fear of failure | publisher = Van Nostrand-Reinhold Company }}</ref> The amount of time that the athlete has to determine this decision is small but it is still enough time for the receiver to make a determination through cognition.<ref name="Lazarus, R.S. 1991" /> Even though the decision is made quickly, the decision is determined through past events that have been experienced by the athlete.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Duda JL | date = 1993 | chapter = Goals: A social-cognitive approach to the study of achievement motivation in sport. | veditors = Singer RN, Murphey M, Tennant LK | title = Handbook of research on sport psychology | pages = 421–436 | location = New York | publisher = Macmillan }}</ref> The results of these past events will determine how the athlete will make his cognitive decision in the split second that he or she has.<ref name="Conroy, D.E. 2001"/>

Fear of failure as described above has been studied frequently in the field of sport psychology. Many scholars have tried to determine how often fear of failure is triggered within athletes, as well as what personalities of athletes most often choose to use this type of motivation. Studies have also been conducted to determine the success rate of this method of motivation.

Murray's Exploration in Personal (1938) was one of the first studies that actually identified fear of failure as an actual motive to avoid failure or to achieve success. His studies suggested that inavoidance, the need to avoid failure, was found in many college-aged men during the time of his research in 1938.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Murray H | date = 1938 | title = Explorations in Personal | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = New York }}</ref> This was a monumental finding in the field of psychology because it allowed other researchers to better clarify how fear of failure can actually be a determinant of creating achievement goals as well as how it could be used in the actual act of achievement.<ref name="Conroy, D. E. 2004">{{cite journal | vauthors = Conroy DE, Elliot AJ | year = 2004 | title = Fear of failure and achievement goals in sport: Addressing the issue of the chicken and the egg | journal = Anxiety, Stress & Coping | volume = 17 | issue = 3| pages = 271–285 | doi = 10.1080/1061580042000191642 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.643.3752 | s2cid = 15144896 }}</ref>

In the context of sport, a model was created by R.S. Lazarus in 1991 that uses the cognitive-motivational-relational theory of emotion.<ref name="Lazarus, R.S. 1991" /> 
{{blockquote|It holds that Fear of Failure results when beliefs or cognitive schemas about aversive consequences of failing are activated by situations in which failure is possible. These belief systems predispose the individual to make appraisals of threat and experience the state anxiety that is associated with Fear of Failure in evaluative situations.<ref name="Conroy, D. E. 2004"/><ref name="Lazarus, R.S. 1991"/>}}

Another study was done in 2001 by Conroy, Poczwardowski, and Henschen that created five aversive consequences of failing that have been repeated over time. The five categories include (a) experiencing shame and embarrassment, (b) devaluing one's self-estimate, (c) having an uncertain future, (d) important others losing interest, (e) upsetting important others.<ref name="Conroy, D.E. 2001"/> These five categories can help one infer the possibility of an individual to associate failure with one of these threat categories, which will lead them to experiencing fear of failure.

In summary, the two studies that were done above created a more precise definition of fear of failure, which is "a dispositional tendency to experience apprehension and anxiety in evaluative situations because individuals have learned that failure is associated with aversive consequences".<ref name="Conroy, D. E. 2004"/>

The author and [[content creation|internet content creator]] [[John Green]] wrote about “[[yips|the yips]]”—a common colloquialism for a debilitating, often chronic manifestation of athletic anxiety experienced by some professional athletes—in an essay for his [[podcast]] and novel ''[[The Anthropocene Reviewed]]''.<ref name="AnthroReviewedBook">{{cite book |last1=Green |first1=John |title=The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet |date=2021 |publisher=Dutton Penguin |location=[New York, New York] |isbn=978-0525555216}}</ref> Green discusses famous examples of when athletic anxiety has ruined careers and juxtaposes it with the nature of [[generalized anxiety disorder|general anxiety]] as a whole. Green settles, however, on a conclusion for the essay evoking [[Psychological resilience|resilience]] and [[hope]] in the [[human condition]] by describing a circumstance where the [[baseball]] player [[Rick Ankiel]] reset his career back to the minor leagues as an outfielder after getting the yips as a major league pitcher.