Terror Management Theory (TMT)

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Terror Management Theory Prague, Czech Republic
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TMT and Existential Psychology

• Existential psychology began in reaction to
  Freuds theories
• Both Freudian and existential approaches explore
  the motivational consequences of human
  (unconscious) conflicts
• However, they differ in which conflicts
  fundamentally influence human behavior
• For Freud the conflict is sex and agression
• For existentialists its our search for meaning,
  freedom, coherence ultimately stemmed from the
  fear of death

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TMT Beginning

• TMT developers Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski,
  and Sheldon Solomon
• Penned theoretical papers explaining TMTs
  principles (1986)
• Theory is based on Ernest Beckers (1976) The
  Denial of Death

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TMT Main Tenets

• Fear of death is
• innate
• universal
• unique to humans
• Self-awareness leads to death awareness (i.e.
  recognition that death is unstoppable and
  unpredictable)
• Fear of death fundamental source of human
  conflict and anxiety
• Death naturally conflicts with our powerful
  self-preservation and freedom instincts

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TMT Main Tenets

• Ultimate motive to manage this terror
• Thus, TMT holds that human behavior fundamentally
  demonstrates how we cope or manage this anxiety
  this terror of death
• But how often do we think about death?
• We learn to automatically that is,
  unconsciously repress and manage the fear of
  death using a dual-component buffer

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TMT Main Tenets

• Initial reaction to death awareness is conscious
  suppression of death thoughts Generally
  successful (low DTA)
• After delay, unconscious DTA increases
• Activates psychological strategies to defend
  against death terror
• Focus on ones culture (more enduring than the
  individual provides meaning and support)
• Focus on self-esteem

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1. Mortality Salience hypothesis

• states that when people are reminded of death
  (mortality salience), they will use various
  terror management (defense) mechanisms to rid
  death thoughts from the mind to return to a
  composed psychological state
• Seeing that culture is vital to ward off death
  anxiety, people should defend their worldviews
  after mortality salience (i.e., elicit worldview
  defense)
• Worldview defense can either involve
• a) criticizing others disparate worldviews or
• b) praising others who uphold your worldview

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Your worldview sucks!
Im going to live forever!
DELAY
Proximal Effects
Distal Effects
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First empirical studies

• Rosenblatt et al. (1989)
• Completed mortality questionnaire (write about
  your death) or not
• Judges read case brief and then allotted bail to
  the alleged prostitute
• amount ranged from 1 - 999
• Results
• After mortality salience 455 vs.
• Control condition 50

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Rosenblatt et al. (1989) cont.

• Also added heroine condition in which Ps
  allotted reward amount to female who apprehended
  thief (1,000 - 4,000)
• After mortality salience 3,476 vs.
• Control condition 1,112

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Mortality Salience Results

• MS not only affects attitudes
• e.g., increased derogation of various outgroup
  members (e.g., Christians vs. Jews)
• But also overt behavioral responses
• Increased aggression against worldview
  transgressors (e.g., allotted more hot sauce to
  targets who criticized ones political views)
• Decreased affiliation with dissimilar others
  (e.g., where one chooses, if at all, to sit with
  worldview threats)
• And death thought accessibility
• BUT ONLY AFTER A DELAY

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2. The Anxiety Buffer hypothesis

• states that high self-esteem, shields
  individuals from experiencing (death) anxiety
• Empirical research says
• Greenberg et al. (1992) High self-esteem
  lessened self-reported anxiety
• in anticipation of electric shocks
• in response to graphic video
• in response to receiving information detailing a
  short life expectancy
• Self-esteem also moderated Ps physiological
  response in anticipation of electric shocks

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