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... > social science subjects > sociology > aging and the life course > death and dying > death in culture > death rituals and ceremonies > symbolic immortality
... > social science subjects > health and social care > health sciences > death and dying > death in culture > death rituals and ceremonies > symbolic immortality
... > social science subjects > psychology > behavior mechanisms > human development > death and dying > death in culture > death rituals and ceremonies > symbolic immortality
... > social science subjects > counseling and psychotherapy > counseling > human development and life transitions > death and dying > death in culture > death rituals and ceremonies > symbolic immortality

Preferred term

symbolic immortality  

Definition

  • The concept symbolic immortality was developed in the research conducted on survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. Robert J. Lifton theorized that humans have a basic and compelling need for mortality transcendence, and that the quest for a sense of continuity that extends farther than one's natural life is a universal phenomenon made possible by self-knowledge of the inescapability of death. [Source: Encyclopedia of Death and the Human Experience; Symbolic Immortality]

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https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/symbolic_immortality

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