DEFENSE MECHANISM AGAINST MORTALITY SALIENCE IN TURKISH MUSLIM POPULATION

Abstract

People who live in Turkey have experienced terrorist attacks for more than thirty years. In the past, the goals of the terrorist organizations were to frighten innocent civilians, but modern attacks are much more malevolent, and they have turned into indiscriminate massacres. In recent years, terrorist organizations have attacked big cities and the general population feels that terrorism is no longer a regional problem and anyone could be in danger. People who live in Ankara tried to cope with the truth `anyone can be a victim of successive terrorist attacks in 2016’. People`s reactions were very different from each other. Some of them stopped using the subway and some realized the importance of their lives. Naturally, attacks affect social, economic, psychological, and religious life in Turkey. The objective of this study is to determine defense mechanisms against fear of death after terrorist attacks. Therefore, this study used a phenomenological approach as a method of qualitative research. This way, the researchers tried to understand Muslim Turkish population tendencies considering its authenticity. This study applied open-ended questions in a semi-structured interview form on a sample of N = 26 selected by purposive sampling that lived in Ankara during June 2016. The ages of the participants in the sample’s ranged from 18 to 50 and the mean age was 37.5. The group consisted of 15 female and 11 male participants. In this study, the researchers determined four different defense mechanisms that are in the Muslim Turkish population. These defense mechanisms were religious-active, religious-passive, non-religious-passive, and non-religious active (Figure 1). As a result, the researchers realized that neither classical Islamic philosophers’ destiny/qadar approaches nor modern psychologists’ fatalism approach could describe the Muslim Turkish population’s defense mechanism against mortality salience. Therefore, this authentic sample needed authentic measures and concepts.

Keywords

• Mortality Salience,Destiny,Terrorist Attacks in Turkey,Fear of Death,Ankara

DEFENSE MECHANISM AGAINST MORTALITY SALIENCE IN TURKISH MUSLIM POPULATION

Abstract

 People who live in Turkey have experienced terrorist attacks for more than thirty years. In the past, the goals of the terrorist organizations were to frighten innocent civilians, but modern attacks are much more malevolent, and they have turned into indiscriminate massacres. In recent years, terrorist organizations have attacked big cities and the general population feels that terrorism is no longer a regional problem and anyone could be in danger. People who live in Ankara tried to cope with the truth `anyone can be a victim of successive terrorist attacks in 2016’. People`s reactions were very different from each other. Some of them stopped using the subway and some realized the importance of their lives. Naturally, attacks affect social, economic, psychological, and religious life in Turkey. The objective of this study is to determine defense mechanisms against fear of death after terrorist attacks. Therefore, this study used a phenomenological approach as a method of qualitative research. This way, the researchers tried to understand Muslim Turkish population tendencies considering its authenticity. This study applied open-ended questions in a semi-structured interview form on a sample of N = 26 selected by purposive sampling that lived in Ankara during June 2016. The ages of the participants in the sample’s ranged from 18 to 50 and the mean age was 37.5. The group consisted of 15 female and 11 male participants. In this study, the researchers determined four different defense mechanisms that are in the Muslim Turkish population. These defense mechanisms were religious-active, religious-passive, non-religious-passive, and non-religious active (Figure 1). As a result, the researchers realized that neither classical Islamic philosophers’ destiny/qadar approaches nor modern psychologists’ fatalism approach could describe the Muslim Turkish population’s defense mechanism against mortality salience. Therefore, this authentic sample needed authentic measures and concepts.

Keywords

• Ankara,Mortality Salience,Destiny/Qadar,Terrorist Attacks in Turkey,Fear of Death,Terror Management Theory

References

1. • Ak, Ahmet (2009). International Symposium on Imam Maturidi & Maturidism 22 - 24 May 2009, İstanbul: M.Ü. Ilahiyat Fakültesi Vakfi Publication.
2. • Akbulut, Akbulut (1992). The Effect of the political problems` on Islamic theology in the period of Ashab, İstanbul: Birleşik Yay.
3. • Anadolu Ajansi (2015, October 10). Ankara`da patlama. http://v.aa.com.tr/437302. (10 October, 2015).
4. • Atay, Hüseyin (2002). İrade ve Hürriyet, Ankara: Atay Yayinlari.
5. • Ayten, Ali (2009). “Death Anxiety among University Students: A Comparison Study on Turkish and Jordanian Students” Dinbilimleri Akademik Araştırma Dergisi, 9 (4): 85-108.
6. • Aydın, Özlem (2011). Yaşami Sürdürmede Dini İnancin Rolü. Doctoral Thesis Submitted to the University of Ankara.
7. • Beyaz Nasır (2001). 17 Ağustos 1999 Marmara Depremini Yaşayanların Stresle Başa Çıkma Yolları Ile Denetim Odakları Arasındaki Ilişki. Doctoral Thesis Submitted to the University of Kocaeli.
8. • Biçer, Ramazan (2010). Bahru’l Kelam: Mâtürîdî Akaidi. İstanbul: Gelenek Yayinlari.

9. • Creswell, John (2013). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design. Third Edition, Washington DC: Sage Publication.
10. • Dağli Emel Nuriye (2010). Death Anxiety and Piety in the Elderly, Master Thesis Submitted to the University of Selcuk, Konya.
11. • Doğulu Canay. & Sakalli Uğurlu, Nuray (2015). “A Review of Terror Management Theory”. Turkish Psychological Articles, 18 (35): 48-50.
12. • Düzgün Şaban Ali (2013). ‘’The Possibility of Handling the Issue of Predestination within Different Categories’’. Kelam Araştirmalari, 11(2): 1-10.
13. • Edmondson Donald, Park, Crystal L. Chaudoir, Stephenie R. and Wortmann, Jennifer H. (2008). “Death without God: Religious struggle, death concerns, and depression in the terminally ill”. Psychol Sci. 19(8):754-8. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02152. x.
14. • Ellis, Lee; Wahab, Eshah A. & Ratnasingan Malini (2013). “Religiosity and fear of death: a three-nation comparison”. Mental Health, Religion & Culture. 16(2): 179–199.
15. • Erdoğdu M. Yüksel & Özkan Mustafa. “The Relationships between Death Anxiety with Dispositional Symptoms and Socio-Demographic Variables of Individuals from Different Religions”. İnönü Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Dergisi, 14(3): 171-179.
16. • Erlandson, David.A. Harris, Edward L. Skipper, Barbara L. & Allen, Steve D. (1993). Doing Naturalistic Inquiry- A Guide to Methods. Newbury Park: Sage Publication.
17. • Gashi, Fehim (2011). “Türk ve Kosovalı Öğrencilerin Ölüm Kaygısı Üzerine Karşılaştırmalı Bir Araştırma” Balkan Araştırmaları Dergisi,2 (1): 45-55.
18. • Greenberg, Jeff. Pyszczynski, Tom & Solomon, Sheldon (1986). “The Causes and Consequences of a Need for Self-Esteem: A Terror Management Theory” in R. E Baumeister (Ed.), Public self and private self: 189-212. New York: Springer-Verlag.
19. • Greenberg, Jeff. Simon, Linda. Solomon, Sheldon. Harmon-Jones, Eddie. Pyszczynski, Tom & Lyon, Deborah. (1995). “Testing alternative explanations for mortality salience effects: terror management, value accessibility, or worrisome thoughts?” European Journal of Social Psychology 25: 417-433.
20. • Henrie, James & Patrick, Julie Hicks (2014). “Religiousness, Religious Doubt, and Death Anxiety”, the International Journal of Aging and Human Development. 78(3): 203-227.
21. • Jonas, Eva & Fischer, Peter. (2006). “Terror management and religion: Evidence that intrinsic religiousness mitigates worldview defense following mortality salience” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 9(13): 553-567. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.91.3.553
22. • Juhl, Jacop & Routledge, Clay. (2010). “Structured terror: Further exploring the effects of mortality salience and personal need for structure on worldview defense” Journal of personality 78(3):969-90. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00639. x.
23. • Kaplan, Hasan (2012). “Beliefs in a justice world religiosity and victim blaming”, Archive for the psychology of religion. 34: 397-409.
24. • Karaca, Faruk (1997). Psikolojik Açidan Ölüm ve Dini İnanc İliskisi, Doctoral Thesis Submitted to the University of Atatürk, Erzurum.
25. • Karaca, Faruk (2006). “An experimental study on relation between destiny and mental health” Journal of Islamic Research.; 19(3):479-489, ISSN 1300-0373 TEK-DAV.
26. • Kartopu, Saffet (2013). “Relation between Anxiety and the Perception of Predestination (A Case Study in the Town of Kahramanmaraş)” Gümüşhane Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 2(3): 238-260. • Kastenmuller, Andreas; Greitemeyer, Tobias; Ai, Amy L.; Winter, Gabriele; Fischer, Peter (2011). “In the face of terrorism: evidence that belief in literal immortality reduces prejudice under terrorism threat” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 50(3): 604–616.
27. • Katırcı Yusuf. (2011). The Sense of Fate of all Prisoners (The instance of Ferizli L-Type Prison). Master Thesis Submitted University of Sakarya.
28. • Kenevir Fatma (2015). Crime, “Social Deviance and Religion: Religious Affiliation Levels of Female Prisoners” Religious Studies. 18 (46): 233- 249.
29. • Kenevir Fatma & Kocak Kurt, Ceyda. (2016). “Evaluation of the Dissertation on Gender and Religious Themes in Turkey” Religious Studies. Gender Special Issue: 347-383.
30. • Kucukcan Talip. & Kose Ali. (2000). Natural Disaster and Religion, A Psych-Social Search on Marmara Earthquake, Istanbul: TDV Islamic research center.
31. • Koca-Atabey Müjde & Öner Özkan Bengü. (2011). “Defensive or Existential Religious orientations and Mortality Salience hypothesis: Using Conservatism as A Dependent Measure”. Death Studies. 35: 852–865, DOI: 10.1080/07481187.2011.553319.
32. • Kökdemir, Doğan.(2009). “Dayanılmaz Dehşet Kaçınılmaz Son: Ölüm (Presentation)”, Atılım Üniversitesi Seyhan Cengiz Turhan Konferans Salonu, http://kurumsal.data.atilim.edu.tr/pdfs/090317_02.pdf (17.03.2009).
33. • Liu Yanli,Lu Guizhi,Liu Yong. (2016). “Personal need for structure: Concept, measurements and relationships to related variables”. Advances in Psychological Science. 24(2): 228-241.
34. • Lüdecke, Christina (2015). Affect and Self-Regulation under Mortality Salience. Doctoral Thesis Submitted to the University of Trier Department of Psychology.
35. • Miller, Dale T. & Ross, Michael (1975). “Self-serving biases in the attribution of causality: Fact or fiction?” Psychological Bulletin, 82: 213-225.
36. • Ritchie, Jane. Lewis, Jane & El am, Gillian (2003). “Designing and Selecting Samples”. In Qualitative Research Practice. Ed. Jane Ritchie & Jane Lewis. London: Sage Publication.
37. • Routledge Clay D, Arndt, Jamie. (2009). “Creative terror management: creativity as a facilitator of cultural exploration after mortality salience”. J.Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 35(4): 493-505. DOI: 10.1177/0146167208329629.
38. • Sever, Mustafa, Soğuksu, A. Fulya Türe, Ersin Koçmar, Yonca Olgun, Muge, Üçüncü, Nergiz & Öztürk, İnci (2016). “What does it mean to be a student in different types of high schools in Turkey through the eyes of students?” Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice. 16, pp. 231-259. http://dx.doi.org/10.12738/estp.2016.1.0157
39. • Şentürk, Mucahidin. (2013). “The Conception of Predestination of Sakarya People”. Kelam Arastirmalari, 11(2): 209-224.
40. • Van Tongeren, D. R. Pennington, A. R. McIntosh, D. N. Taylor, N. Green, J. D. Davis D. E. & Hook J. N. (2017). “Where, O death, is thy sting? The meaning-providing function of beliefs in literal immortality” Mental Health, Religion & Culture. DOI.org/10.1080/13674676.2017.1355358
41. • Yeniçeri Zuhal & Dönmez Ali (2008). “Perception of terrorism & terrorist”. Turkish Journal of Psychology, 23 (62): 93-103.
42. • Yıldız Murat. (1998). Dinî Hayat İle Ölüm Kaygısı Arasındaki İlişki Üzerine Bir Araştırma. Doctoral Thesis Submitted to the University of Dokuz Eylul, Izmir.
43. • Yıldız Murat (1999). “Savaş Tecrübesi Yaşayan Boşnaklar Arasında Ölüm Kaygısı-Türk Örneklmele Karşılaştırmalı Bir Çalışma”, D.E.Ü. İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 12; 147-162.
44. • Yıldız Murat (2001). “Dindarlik ve Ölüm Kaygisi: Tasavvufi Yaklaşım ve Günümüz Üniversite Öğrencileri” Journal of Religious Culture, 43: 1-7.
45. • Yılmaz, Sema. (2013). “Death Concept In 8-13 Years Children’s Cognitive Development”. Bilimname. 25 (2): 169-189.