Achieving Immortality at Any Cost

By Amanda Ferrer Knight | January 22, 2021

What drives someone to kill, and specifically become a serial killer, has fascinated society. Serial killers are often presented in the media as “insane.” However, this might be a myth.1 Indeed, these individuals may often appear to be “normal.” For example, Theodore Bundy was considered a handsome, charming, and intelligent man with good social skills and in a successful relationship. Despite this, he murdered and raped dozens of women during the 1970s. If we are to accept the myth of insanity, then it seems reasonable to question what motivational forces push a person to commit such horrible crimes? Perhaps their actions reflect some uniquely human existential concerns.

Terror Management Theory (TMT), in line with Ernest Becker, argues that humans manage their existential concerns through cultural worldviews, self-esteem and attempting to transcend death through literal or symbolic immortality.2 In particular, symbolic immortality involves being part of something that continues to exist after one’s own death.3 One might achieve this symbolic immortality through gaining media attention, as the mass media has the power to free humans from their anonymity and triviality by broadcasting oneself, or one’s actions, to millions of people around the world. Criminal activity, in particular serial murder cases, is often considered newsworthy, with some arrests and trials being televised and some un-resolved cases being covered for years.4 Depictions of serial killers are also found in works of fiction,5 and are increasing in films and television shows.6

Interviews with serial killers suggest they are not immune to the desire to be renowned for their actions. Egger’s (2002) analysis of seven American serial killers suggests most enjoyed their celebrity status and receiving attention for their crimes.7 Two examples of serial killers who sought media attention are David Berkowitz—who sent letters to the police and NY Daily News- and Dennis Rader—who sent the police and media messages, including one asking how many people he had to kill to be in the paper.8 Therefore, serial killers may chase and enjoy notoriety due to their unconscious desire of achieving symbolic immortality through their crimes.

Additionally, serial killer actions, may also reflect a strong motivation to annihilate those who they perceive as worldview violators. TMT research has convincingly shown that reminders of death may heighten people’s tendency to derogate or act aggressively towards people they consider to threaten one’s worldview.2 American serial killers often target groups of people which are considered lesser by the society they live in, such as the homeless, prostitutes, or LGBT+ community.5 John Wayne Gacy —who killed 33 male prostitutes during the 1970s- said his victims were scum and stupid, and that his murders were helping eradicate a bad element in society.9 Similarly, Gerald Stano said that killing women was like stepping on a cockroach.5 This suggests that serial killers may internalize cultural codings that devalue specific groups, and engage in killing as an extreme form of defense, in order to manage death-related concerns.

However, although people may derogate others, TMT argues that people manage their death-related concerns through self-esteem, which is obtained by living up to, or exceeding, their culture’s values. This clashes with serial killers’ motivation to murder, as they would be violating cultural norms by engaging in such actions. Thus, although some serial killers might (incorrectly) perceive their actions to be valued by broader society, most serial killers are likely are aware that they transgress conventionally accepted standards of conduct. Of course, it is by doing so that serial killers appear to achieve an alternative, though equally effective, pathway to symbolic immortality. That is, through committing severe moral transgressions they can obtain a sense of immortality, which will cause them to be vilified, yet, remembered. Perhaps when people feel they are unable to live up to the standards their cultural worldviews prescribe, they may seek alternative pathways to immortality. Consistent with this, some serial killers—such as Theodore Bundy and Gary Ridgway—have been found to struggle with low self-esteem.10 Therefore, some individuals who constantly feel they cannot live up to conventionally held standards of conduct, may attempt to instead transgress them in an attempt to secure immortality.

Finally, power-and-control oriented serial killers are those who derive pleasure from having power over their victim’s lives.10 An example is Jeffrey Dahmer, who murdered and cannibalized 17 men between 1970 and 1990.11 In interviews, Dahmer reported the murders occurred when the victims wanted to leave his apartment, because he wanted to keep them there with him.11 Interviews suggest that serial killer’s desire to have control over other people’s death may reflect a lack of control over their own life and the negative events they experience.10 Thus, murder may become a way in which these individuals aim to restore a sense of power and control. As existential theorists like Becker point out, ultimately humans are powerless over death, but may attempt to feel a sense of control in their lives. Thus, perhaps some serial killers, because of low feelings of control, may be driven towards extreme actions to feel a sense of control. In line with this, Theodore Bundy said that a murderer becomes God when they are killing.10 Evidence from TMT also suggests that reminders of death increase men’s motivation to acquire power, and that feelings of powerfulness reduce a person’s fear of death.12

Overall, TMT may help us understand the actions of serial killers that, on initial glance, seem incomprehensible. They may murder and seek media attention for their crimes in order to secure symbolic immortality, or to attain a strong sense of control. However, if the awareness that they will be immortalized for their crimes incites serial killers to murder, does this make “us”—the consumers of content depicting serial killers—partially responsible for their actions?

Amanda Ferrer Knight is an aspiring Clinical Psychologist interested in adolescent mental health. She was taught the ideas of Ernest Becker and Terror Management Theory by Dr. Samuel Fairlamb, whilst completing the BSc Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Mental Health at Royal Holloway, University of London.

References

1. Lester, D. (1995). Serial Killers. Philadelphia, PA: Charles Press.

2. Pyszczynski, T., Rothschild, Z.,& Abdollahi, A. (2008). Terrorism, Violence, and Hope for Peace: A Terror Management Perspective. Current Directions in Psychological Science: A Journal of the American Psychological Society, 17(5), 318-322.

3. Pyszczynski, T., Solomon, S., & Greenberg, J. (2015). Thirty Years of Terror Management Theory. Elsevier.

4. Wilson, D., Tolputt, H., Howe, N., & Kemp, D. (2010). When serial killers go unseen: The case of Trevor Joseph Hardy. Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal, 6(2), 153-167. DOI: 10.1177/1741659010369952

5. Haggerty, K.,& Ellerbrok, A. (2011). The social study of serial killers. Criminal Justice Matters, 86, 6-7. DOI: 10.1080/09627251.2011.646180.

6. Call, C. (2019). Serial Entertainment: A Content Analysis of 35 Years of Serial Murder in Film. Homicide Studies, 23(4), 362-380. DOI: 10.1177/1088767919841660

7. Egger, S. (2002). The Killers Among Us: Examination of Serial Murder and Its Investigations (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

8. Gross, M. (2020). Serial Murder and Media Coverage. Unpublished honors undergraduate theses, University of Central Florida.

9. James, V. (2019). Denying the Darkness: Exploring the Discourses of Neutralization of Bundy, Gacy, and Dahmer. Societies (Basel, Switzerland), 9(2), 46. DOI: 10.3390/soc9020046

10. Sharma, M. (2018). The Development of Serial Killers: A Grounded Theory Study. Unpublished master’s theses, Eastern Illinois University.

11. InsideEdition (2018). Inside the Mind of Jeffrey Dahmer: Serial Killer’s Chilling Jailhouse Interview [Video file]. Retrieved October 19, 2020 from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWjYsxaBjBI&t=19s&ab_channel=InsideEdition.

12. Belmi, P., & Pfeffer, J. (2016). Power and Death: Mortality Salience Increases Power Seeking While Feeling Powerful Reduces Death Anxiety. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(5), 702-720.