The Zeigarnik Effect: Why You’re So Afraid of Death

And one simple thing you can do about it.

6 min read

1 hour ago

I’ll admit, this topic is a little weird coming from me, but I went down this rabbit hole about death the other day and the fear of death that most people have.

FYI, I’m not most people, and I have a really different view of death. Anyway…

While I was searching why people are so afraid of death, something about the Zeigarnik Effect popped up, and down another rabbit hole I went. And to be honest, I don’t even remember what sent me down all these holes in the first place!

Such fun, Iva! 😅

Before I begin, I need to know — have you ever heard of the Zeigarnik Effect? Kudos to you if you have. If you haven’t, don’t feel dumb; neither had I.

So, what exactly is the Zeigarnik Effect? Let’s get that out of the way first. It’s actually quite fascinating.

The Zeigarnik Effect

I took this from impetusdigital.com because it explains it very well.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the Zeigarnik Effect as “the psychological tendency to remember an uncompleted task rather than a completed one.” It is named after Lithuanian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik. Back in the 1920’s, together…