fei75766_ch11_345-376.indd 368  02/06/20 12:38 PM
Part III    Humanistic/Existential Theories368
eventoreplace anembodied viewofthemselves withamore sanitized, deodorized, 
object-like one,much asweseeinpopular media.
Finding Meaning in the Mitwelt:  Attachment  
and Close Relationships
“When Marvin Gaye firstrecorded thesongHow Sweet It Is (to Be Loved by You) in
1964, hestarted withthelyricofneeding theshelter ofsomeone’s arms. Thisneed
forclose relationships appears tobeexacerbated byconfrontations withthefragility 
oflife”(Cox &Arndt, 2012, p.616). Indeed, agreat dealofempirical research has
demonstrated thatpeople’s attachments toothers inclose relationships serve ater-
rormanagement function (e.g., Mikulincer, Florian, &Hirschberger, 2003). Inother 
words, onewaywemanage ourawareness ofourmortality isbyinvesting inMay’s 
Mitwelt: inloving relationships. Indeed, reminding people ofdeath leads tothem initiat -
inginteractions withother people (Taubman-Ben-Ari, Findler, &Mikulincer, 2002), to
increase theirdesire forintimacy andcommitment (May’s “Eros” form oflove) intheir
romantic partnerships (Florian, Mikulincer, &Hirschberger, 2002), andeventolead
adult children toexpress closer feelings toward theirparents (Cox etal.,2008). Studies 
havealsoreversed therelationship between death awareness andattachment-seeking 
andhavefound thatifpeople imagine aseparation from aromantic loved one,this
increases theaccessibility ofdeath-related thoughts intheirminds (Florian etal.,2002). 
Cathy CoxandJamie Arndt (2012) sought toexplore thequestion ofwhypeople 
aremotivated toform andnurture close relationships when theyarereminded oftheir
mortality. Their hypothesis, supported byseveral studies, wasgrounded intheRogerian 
construct ofpositive regard. They tested whether itisourperceptions ofclose others’ 
positive regard forusthatexplains whyrelationships andcloseness buffer against death 
anxiety. Inother words, asCarlRogers (1959) argued, oursense thatothers carefor
andprize usbecomes incorporated intoourpersonal feeling ofpositive self-regard, and
this,inturn,contributes toasense thatweareasignificant person intheworld. Cox
andArndt (2012) examined whether thisperceived positive regard from close relation -
ships iswhat brings relief from theanxiety ofnonexistence orinsignificance.
CoxandArndt’s (2012) firststudies manipulated anindependent variable of
death reminder orcontrol. Inthiscase, students wereasked toeither “briefly describe 
theemotions thatthethought ofyourowndeath arouses inyouandjotdown, asspe-
cifically asyoucan,what youthink willhappen toyouasyouphysically dieandonce 
youarephysically dead” versus parallel questions about anunexpected event. Stu-
dents inthedeath reminder condition exaggerated howpositively theirromantic part-
nerssawthem, compared tothecontrol unexpected events condition. Furthermore, 
theyfound thatstudents’ perceived positive regard from theirromantic partner pre-
dicted theirexpression ofmore commitment tothatpartner afteradeath reminder. 
Inyetanother study, CoxandArndt asked halfoftheparticipants toanswer 
trueorfalsetoaseries ofstatements assessing theirfearofdeath (e.g., “Iamvery
much afraid todie”) andtheother halfthesame questions assessing anondeath 
control arena (e.g., “Iamverymuch afraid ofdental work”). Following thismanip -
ulation, asecond independent variable wasmanipulated. Here participants were
randomly assigned toeither visualize atimewhen theirromantic partner heldaposi-
tiveviewofthem (“write about atimewhen yourromantic partner made youfeelFinal PDF to printer