Handbook of Terror Management Theory

Handbook of Terror Management Theory provides an overview of Terror Management Theory (TMT), including critical research derived from the theory, recent research that has expanded and refined the theory, and the many ways the theory has been utilized to understand domains of human social life. The book uses TMT as a lens to help understand human relationships to nature, cultural worldviews, the self, time, the body, attachment, group identification, religion and faith, creativity, personal growth, and the brain. The first section reviews theoretical and methodological issues, the second focuses on basic research showing how TMT enhances our understanding of a wide range of phenomena, and the third section, Applications, uses TMT to solve a variety of real world problems across different disciplines and contexts, including health behavior, aging, psychopathology, terrorism, consumerism, the legal system, art and media, risk-taking, and communication theory. Examines the three critical hypotheses behind Terror Management Theory (TMT) Distinguishes proximal and distal responses to death-thoughts Provides a practical toolbox for conducting TMT research Covers the Terror Management Health Model Discusses the neuroscience of fear and anxiety Identifies how fear motivates consumer behavior Relates fear of death to psychopathologies 1 A Consideration of Three Critical Hypotheses Introduction Terror Management Theory The Role of Cultural Worldviews and Self-Esteem Development of the Self-Esteem Motive Empirical Support The Mortality Salience Hypothesis Mortality Salience Increases Defense of the Cultural Worldview Mortality Salience Motivates Prejudice and Aggression Mortality Salience Can Inspire Socially Constructive Behaviors Mortality Salience Increases Striving for Self-Esteem Mortality Salience Can Cause Paradoxical Behaviors The Death-Thought Accessibility Hypothesis Cultural Worldview Threats Self-Esteem Threats Relationship Threats Threats to the Human–Animal Boundary Threats to Structured Meaning The Anxiety-Buffer Hypothesis Self-Esteem Is a General Purpose Anxiety Buffer Self-Esteem Buffers Defensive Reactions to Mortality Salience Self-Esteem Buffers Against Death-Thought Accessibility Seven Immortality Postulates Summary and Epilogue References 2 Proximal and Distal Terror Management Defenses: A Systematic Review and Analysis Historical Background An Existential-Psychodynamic Model of Death-Related Cognition and Behavior Prelude to the Model: A Note on Interpretation The Dual-Process Model of Terror Management First Things First: Eliciting Mortality Salience Proximal Defenses Suppression of Unconscious Death-Related Thoughts Conscious Proximal Defenses: Rationalization and Distraction Distal Defenses Distal Defense Occurs When Death-Related Thoughts are Active on the Fringes of Consciousness In the Distal Phase, Unconscious Thoughts of Meaning and Value Become Accessible In the Distal Phase, Symbolic Defenses Reduce Death Thought Accessibility Threat-Induced DTA: Eliciting Death-Related Thoughts With Threats Other Than Death Threats to the Worldview Increase Death Thought Accessibility Threats to Self-Esteem Increase Death Thought Accessibility Threats to Close Relationships Increase Death Thought Accessibility Strengthening the Buffer Reduces Death Thought Accessibility and Defensiveness What is Death Thought Accessibility? Conclusion References 3 What’s Death Got to Do With It? Controversies and Alternative Theories Observations to be Explained: Who Needs Terror Management? From Theory to Data Alternative Perspectives: Overview Alternative Perspectives: Findings and Controversies Relational Perspectives Self-Focused Perspectives Epistemic Perspectives Domain-General Perspectives and the Security System Where Do We Go Now? Conclusion References 4 The Method Behind the Science: A Guide to Conducting Terror Management Theory Research Mortality Salience Manipulations When Do MS Effects Occur? The Role of a Delay Outcomes Variables: Worldview Defense, Self-Esteem, and Close Relationship Striving Worldview Defense Self-Esteem Striving Need for Close Relationships Death-Thought Accessibility Variables Found to Moderate MS Effects Situational Primes Individual Differences Conclusion Acknowledgment References 5 Terror Management Motivation Fuels Structure-Seeking Simplification Categorizing Stereotyping Simplifying the Self Consistency Consistency in Beliefs, Actions, Traits, and Values Consistency in Person Perception Temporal Coherence Order in Personal Experience Order in External Events Summary and Outlook Acknowledgments References 6 We Supernaturals: Terror Management and People’s Ambivalent Relationship With Nature Ambiguity of Nature Nature as a Material and Psychological Resource Nature as an Object of Care Nature as a Provider of Identity Nature Can Threaten Predictability and Control Nature as a Reminder of Human Mortality A Terror Management Look at Human–Nature Relations Empirical Evidence for Terror Management Processes in Human–Nature Relations We Are Supernatural: Distinguishing Humans From Animals and the Natural Sphere Fighting Chaos and Maintaining Control: Defensive Responses to Threatening Nature Compensatory Control Group-Based Control Attitudes Toward Nature and Wilderness Anthropocentric Versus Biocentric Concern Nature as (Personal or Collective) Identity Summary and Conclusions References 7 The Curse and the Blessing: The Self as Source of the Terror and the Primary Avenue for Managing It The Emergence of the Need for Self-Esteem Self-Esteem, the Anxiety-Buffer Self-Esteem and Mortality Salience–Induced Worldview Defense Cultural Self-Construals and In-Group Identification Mortality Salience and Striving for Self-Esteem I Am a Person, Not an Animal! The Coherent, Enduring Self Self-Awareness and Terror Mortality Salience, Creativity, and Self-Expansion Other Remaining Issues and a New Direction Conclusion References 8 Precious Time: The Role of Time and Temporal Thought in Managing Death Awareness Death and Time Death and Time Denial Death and Structuring Time Death and Mental Time Travel Death, Limited Time, and Present Focus Conclusion References 9 Terror Management Is for the Birds and the Bees: An Existential Perspective on the Threat Associated With Human Corporeality An Existential Perspective on the Threat of Human Corporeality The Birds and the Bees The Real Female Problem Objectification as Terror Management A Specimen of Health An Alternative to Terror Management References 10 An Attachment Perspective on Managing Death Concerns Overview of Adult Attachment Theory Death Awareness as a Trigger of Attachment-System Activation Attachment-Related Differences in Managing Death Anxiety Concluding Remarks References 11 Terror Management Theory and Religious Belief Time Management Theory Research and Religious Faith Faith in Supernatural Immortality Faith in Supernatural Agency The Social Maintenance of Religious Faith Variation in Religious Orientations Skepticism Colors of Religious Belief Close-Minded Orientation Mainstream Orientations Open-Minded Orientations How the Human Body Shapes Religious Terror Management The Ghost in the Machine The Machine in the (Holy) Ghost Conclusion References 12 Secular Cultural Worldviews Great Nations, Fearless Leaders Fame and Fortune Ancestors and Children: Looking Back (and) to the Future Secular Potpourri Atheism Progress: The Ultimate Secular Worldview of Modernity Summary and Conclusion References 13 Terror Management Theory: A Theory of Psychological Well-Being A Theory of Psychological Well-Being Evidence for TMT’s Central Claims About Well-Being Meaning in Life Nostalgia Proneness Personal Need for Structure Interdependent Self-Construal Self-Worth Summary Important Nuances and Further Evidence Proximal and Distal Terror Management Strategies Proximal Effects on Well-Being Summary The Relationship Between Affect and Terror Management Strategies After Mortality Salience Concluding Remarks References 14 The Terror Management of Meaning and Growth: How Mortality Salience Affects Growth-Oriented Processes and the Meaningful... A Brief Primer on Terror Management Theory Mortality Salience and the Perceived Meaningfulness of Life Beyond Existing Sources of Meaning: Mortality Salience, Openness, and Creativity More than Creative: Terror Management and the “Good” Life Conclusion References 15 Existential Neuroscience: A Review and Brain Model of Coping With Death Awareness Terror Management Theory Neuronal Correlates of Mortality Awareness Amygdala Anterior Cingulate Cortex Insula Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex and Left–Right Lateralizations Integrating the findings: A Neuroscience Model of COPING WITH DEATH AWARENESS Discussion and Outlook Conclusion References 16 Physical Health Under the Shadow of Mortality: The Terror Management Health Model Introduction Terror Management Health Model Motivational Dualities in Health Psychology Death Awareness as Integrative Catalyst An Overview of TMHM Research The Link Between Health and Death Death on My Mind: “Not Me, Not Now” Death on the Fringes of Consciousness: Does Self Trump Health? Reciprocal Contributions of Studying Death and Health: A Look Back and to the Future Conclusion References 17 Aging and Coping With Mortality: Understanding Attitudes About Aging and Age-Related Differences in Coping With Death Terror Management Theory Terror Management Perspective on Older Adults and the Aging Process Contemplating Older Adults’ Approach to Mortality Self-Reported Death Anxiety Across Life Span TMT Research With Older Adults Practical Implications Conclusions References 18 Terror Management Theory and Psychological Disorder: Ineffective Anxiety-Buffer Functioning as a Transdiagnostic Vulnera... Anxiety and the Problem of Death Psychological Disorder and Ineffective Anxiety-Buffer Functioning Causes and Consequences of Individual Differences in Anxiety-Buffer Functioning Causes and Consequences of Weak or Inefficient Anxiety-Buffer Development Empirical Evidence Regarding the Anxiety-Buffering Function of Attachment Attachment Style and Psychological Disorder The Impact of Trauma: Anxiety-Buffer, Interrupted Trauma Exposure in Children Trauma in Adulthood: Signs and Sequels of Anxiety-Buffer Disruption I’ve Got 99 Problems and a Malfunctioning Anxiety-Buffer is the Root of Them All Conclusion Acknowledgment Disclaimer References 19 The Cycle of Intergroup Conflict: Terror Management in the Face of Terrorism and War From Mortality Salience to Radicalization—A Terror Management Perspective Proximal and Distal Defenses—A Dual-Process Model A Terror Management Model of Escalation of Violent Intergroup Conflict The Cycle of Escalation—Affect, Cognition, and Behavior Stages of the Cycle Model of Intergroup Conflict From the In-Group Perspective Escalating and De-escalating the Cycle of Conflict Perception of Threat Anxiety Buffers and Personality Traits Moderate Mortality Effects Redirecting Worldview Defense Consequences of Conflict for the Out-Group and the Dynamics of Social Interactions Step 1—Perception of Threat Step 2—Motivational-Affective State Step 3—Motivated Cognition Step 4—Motivated Behavior Channels of Social Interaction Conclusion Acknowledgment References 20 Consumer Culture as Worldview Defense: A Terror Management Perspective* The Symbolic Value of Money and the Greedy Human Being Materialism and Conspicuous Consumption Mortality Salience and Patriotic Consumption Boundary Conditions of Mortality Salience Effects on Consumer Behavior Manipulating Mortality Salience in a Consumer Context Future Avenues to Explore Mortality Salience Effects in Consumer Behavior References 21 Legal Applications of Terror Management Theory Terror Management Theory The Relationship Between Morality and Legality Commission of Offenses MS and Legal Decision-Making Awareness of Death and Judgments of Offenders Procedural Fairness Concerns Jury Selection and Trial Strategy Death Reminders in the Courtroom Death Penalty Decision-Making Current Cultural Criminal Justice Issues Illegal Immigration Black Lives Matter Conclusions References 22 Applying Terror Management Theory to Art, Film, and Media: A Theoretical and Empirical Review Treatments of Death in Film Studies Scholarship TMT at the Intersection of Psychology and Film/Media Studies Studies Demonstrating Effects of Mortality Salience on Aesthetic Preferences Mortality Salience and Meaning in Art Art and Artists Symbolizing Worldview Strength Studies Demonstrating Effects of Mortality Salience on Preferences for Commercial Media Studies Demonstrating the Buffering Effects of Aesthetic Reception and Production Conclusion: The Future of Immortality in Art and Media? References 23 The Terror Management Underpinnings of Risky Behavior Examining Risk Taking Under the Microscope of TMT: The Role of Global and Specific Self-Esteem The Moderating Role of Personality Characteristics The Moderating Role of Gender Differences Self-Esteem Risk-Taking—Concluding Remarks References 24 Meaning-Making, Communication, and Terror Management Processes Meaning-Making Terror Management Processes Culture and Memory The Anxiety Buffering Utility of Cultural Worldviews Identity Confirmation Uses and Gratification Movement, Language, and Time An Alternative Measure of Mortality Salience Dimensions, Levels, and Variability of Death-Thought Awareness Content Analysis Theory of Cross-Cultural Adaptation A Contextual Theory of Interethnic Communication Vested Interest Conclusion References