Dylan Horner on Death Awareness and Self-Determination
Dylan E. Horner is a doctoral student at the University of Arizona. He earned his B.A. in Psychology from Minot State University and his M.A. in Experimental Research Psychology from Cleveland State University. Broadly, his research is focused on how people manage their existential concerns. More specifically, his research is aimed at exploring the dynamic interplay between existential concerns about authenticity and mortality. Some of this research has investigated whether feelings of self-determination may help mitigate death-related anxieties and concerns, whereas other studies have explored whether death awareness may motivate self-determination.
Dylan on the web: LinkTree | GoogleScholar | ResearchGate | Twitter
By Kenneth Vail, Cleveland State University. July 28, 2021.
ISSEP: How did you first become aware of and interested in existentialism and existential psychology?
Artworks completed by Dylan E. Horner. Clockwise from left: Untitled 3 (2014); Untitled 2 (2013); and Untitled 1 (2013).
Dylan Horner: I’ve always been curious about big-picture questions concerning death, meaning in life, and motivation, but these curiosities started to take more concrete shape with some of my undergrad courses in my first few years of college.
My first college class was a world religions course. I was fascinated by how different religions hold such different beliefs and that people cling so strongly to certain sets of beliefs in the face of so many alternative perspectives. That sparked my interest in culture and how it shapes our understandings of the world. I began to more seriously question what leads people to act the way they do and what types of influences shape their attitudes and behaviors. Two other classes at that time—and perhaps my favorite classes as an undergrad—were History of Psychology and Social Psychology. Through these classes, I started to appreciate some long-standing questions about human nature and learned how people have previously explored those questions in interesting and creative ways.
My undergraduate advisor and I also often shared in-depth and stimulating conversations, oftentimes leading to questions with existential themes. When I started to apply to graduate school for a master’s degree, there were several programs that I was interested in, but Ken Vail’s lab at Cleveland State University, in particular, stood out to me because of its focus on existential motivation. It felt like a perfect place to further explore my interests through an existential lens, especially through a terror management theory perspective. From there, my passion for existential psychology blossomed and I am now working with Jeff Greenberg at the University of Arizona.
ISSEP: You’ve been doing some research about existential motivation at the intersection of death awareness and autonomy. Can you tell us more about that?
Dylan Horner: Sure! My research explores the dynamic interplay between the awareness of death and the experience of autonomy on motivation and well-being. Prior research suggests that death awareness is a key existential concern that can potentially undermine well-being and motivate people to more strongly adhere to and defend their cultural worldviews. However, existentialist thinkers have often argued that one of the most powerful ways to handle the challenges of the awareness of death is to engage life as an authentic, self-determined agent in the world.
My master’s thesis tested this idea. Participants were first randomly assigned to one of two conditions: a control condition that prompted them to think about pain, or a target condition that prompted them to think about their own mortality. Then, they were randomly assigned to either a condition that prompted them to think about external pressures and obligations, or a condition that prompted them to think about being autonomous and self-determined. Finally, they responded to a measure assessing their death-related anxiety. The data patterns showed that the reminder of death (vs. pain) increased death anxiety among those prompted to think about external pressures and obligations, but not among those prompted to think about being autonomous and self-determined. So, autonomy helped buffer death anxiety after mortality salience.
In some recently-published correlational work, I had participants rate their sense of autonomy and meaning in life, as well as how much they think their impact on the world will continue and be remembered by others—in other words, their sense of symbolic immortality. The data showed that autonomy was related to higher symbolic immortality, which in turn was related to greater meaning in life.
ISSEP: How did you develop an interest in the intersection of death awareness and autonomy?
Dylan Horner: I think the phrase “research is me-search” fits nicely for the topics I am interested in studying. For instance, I have experienced the deaths of many people close to me and have shared these experiences of loss with family and friends. For many of us, there seemed to be shifts in our attitudes and behaviors. One shift that seemed to happen was an increased interest in pursuing things that are particularly important to the self. Similar types of outcomes after close encounters with death can be seen elsewhere, both through people’s personal anecdotes as well as empirical examples. So, my interest in autonomy and its role in managing existential concerns definitely developed, at least in part, from these personal experiences..
I’ve also developed an appreciation for the depiction of autonomy in things like movies, music, shows, and literature. Core themes often seem to revolve around the importance of self-authorship and living life in a way that feels self-directed. I have also lately been drawing from the work of people like Otto Rank and Viktor Frankl. They, as well as others, emphasize the importance of self-expression and creation, exercising choice, and ultimately living as an active agent in one’s life.
ISSEP: It sounds like you see your research topic being dealt with in interesting ways in the humanities and the arts; how so?
Dylan Horner: One of the most common themes I see in the arts is the triumph of autonomy and self-determination in the face of adversity. For example, after suffering complications from tuberculosis that took his left leg and nearly took his life, William E. Henley penned the poem Invictus (1875), of which the latter half reads:
“Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.”
Many songs also emphasize the role of living autonomously for dealing with one’s worries about death. For example, in Ten Thousand Hours (2012), Macklemore describes these existential concerns in his pursuit of a career in music,
“This is dedication
A life lived for art is never a life wasted…
It’s the part of the show where it all fades away
When the lights go to black and the band leaves the stage
And you wanted an encore but there’s no encore today
‘Cause the moment is now, can’t get it back from the grave.”
To me, these lyrics speak to the importance of expression and creativity—that pursuing one’s passions and living life autonomously is a life well lived. For Macklemore, the inevitable end of the “show” underlined the importance of living volitionally, pursuing his passions, and taking the opportunity to engage with the world as authentically as possible before the “band leaves the stage.”
The pervasiveness of these ideas shows that people across all walks of life recognize, at least to some level, that although it may sometimes be challenging, self-direction and self-determination can help make life feel more meaningful and purposeful.
ISSEP: In what ways does your work on authenticity and death anxiety help us make sense of important human experiences?
Dylan Horner: Singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, best known for the song Cat’s in the Cradle (1974), once recounted some advice from his grandfather that, at the end of the day, there are two kinds of tired: bad tired and good tired. The “bad tired” describes days in which you win other people’s battles, work to fit other people’s agendas, and even if you are successful, you don’t feel like there is really any sense of self in what you do. But, the “good tired” describes days in which you do fight your own battles and chase your own dreams, and even if you don’t succeed, you still feel good because you did something important to you. Chapin’s response to that was to say, “…if there’s a process that will allow us to live our days, that will allow us that degree of equanimity towards the end, looking at the black, implacable wall of death, to allow us that degree of peace, that degree of non-fear, I want in.”
I think we all want in; we all want to live some type of meaningful life—to be able to face death with a sense of fulfillment and perhaps a sense that our impact on those around us is a lasting reflection of our authentic selves. I hope my work can help us better understand how autonomy and self-determination help people do this, and how feelings of self-authorship help people manage the awareness of death.
ISSEP: What do you see as the most important next step toward better understanding the ways that existential defense and growth orientations might be related?
Dylan Horner: I think there might be an interesting dynamic between existential growth and defense. On one hand, prior theorizing and research suggest that people tend to be naturally oriented toward novel experiences that bring about personal growth. On the other hand, research has shown that death awareness motivates people to cling strongly to their worldviews, which can consequently undermine their openness to new information and novel experiences. In other words, prior work suggests people are generally interested in having new experiences and pursuing personal growth, but awareness of one’s mortality can hinder this growth by motivating people to be more closed-minded and defensive.
Sometimes, our comfort zone can be a source of existential strength and security which allows us to confidently venture out to explore ourselves and the world around us, try new and unfamiliar things, and grow as people.
So, how can people manage death awareness in ways that provide a sense of security and meaning, while also encouraging more open-mindedness and personal growth? This question has not received as much empirical attention, but I think it is an important next step for future research. One possible answer is that conditions like self-determination and autonomous functioning might help to not only serve a defensive function and provide a sense of security for dealing with the awareness of death, but also as a catalyst for new and growth-oriented experiences. That is, autonomy might serve both a protective/defensive function as well as a more growth-oriented function. Research investigating this idea might help us better understand how certain orientations might allow people to defend against existential concerns while also providing a more durable and secure foundation from which people can explore.
ISSEP: What is one piece of advice you would give to future students who have an interest in following in your footsteps?
Dylan Horner: Always ask questions and always feel encouraged to ask others for help. As an undergrad, I was worried about my preparedness for research in grad school, scared that it would be difficult, confusing, and challenging. Certainly, at times, designing studies can be that way! But I think conducting research, offering contributions to psychological science, and working with others who are passionate about their work can be a rewarding opportunity for intellectual growth. Much of my time as a student and researcher has been made worthwhile by asking questions, learning from others, sharing ideas, and being open to different perspectives.
ISSEP: You’ve attended, and presented research at, our Existential Psychology Preconferences; how has your experience been with those?
“The conference brings together so much cool and innovative research in existential psychology! ”
Dylan Horner: The Existential Psychology Preconference is one of my favorite parts about the SPSP convention! I’ve attended in Portland [2019], New Orleans [2020], and virtually during the pandemic [2021], and I enjoyed seeing all the fantastic talks and posters each year that I have attended. The conference brings together so much cool and innovative research in existential psychology! I’ve also had great experiences presenting my own research, with engaging and productive conversations afterward. My favorite part has been the opportunity to meet and chat with so many others who are also interested in this new science of existential psychology.
ISSEP: Can you tell us a little about yourself outside the research context?
Dylan Horner: Outside of the lab and research, I spend much of my free time binge-watching shows with my fiancée. We also love movies and enjoy travelling and exploring new places. Since the pandemic, we’ve been staying home and building up our board game collection; a few of our favorites are Forbidden Island, Scrabble, and Raj. I also enjoy playing videos games and drawing when I have the time. I usually just doodle cartoons nowadays, but I’m hoping to get back into using charcoal, conté crayons, pastels, and other mediums.
ISSEP: A lot of us like to listen to music in the lab; what are you listening to lately?
Dylan Horner: When I’m not working, I listen to rock, alternative, and rap and hip hop. My favorite bands are probably Green Day and Awolnation; Knights of Shame is one of my favorites and is an interesting track because it cycles through a few styles.
When I’m working, it’s a bit different. While I was working toward my master’s degree, I would almost always write and study while listening to the Game of Thrones soundtrack or some classical music, usually Frédéric Chopin or Mozart. Anything that had a rich, full sound and minimal lyrics. Nowadays, though, I don’t listen to music while working—I tend to get distracted by it and just want to sit back and listen. So, instead, I fuel my working hours with way too much coffee and just listen to whatever sounds come in from outside my window.