Terror management theory (TMT; Solomon, Greenberg, & Pyszczynski, 1991)

1. Terror management theory (TMT; Solomon, Greenberg, & Pyszczynski, 1991) • Human beings are explicitly aware of the inevitability of death • Death can occur at any time • Death creates the potential for overwhelming terror • This terror is reduced by two psychological phenomena: Cultural Worldviews and Self-Esteem

2. Cultural worldview : Humanly constructed beliefs about the nature of reality shared by individuals in a group Provides a conception of the universe Imbues the world with order, meaning, and permanence. Sets standards of valued behavior Minimizes death anxiety by promises of immortality (symbolic and/or literal) to those who live up to these standards Cultural worldview & Self-esteem

3. Self-esteem: the perception that one is a person of value in a world of meaning Obtained if standards of valued behavior are satisfied Self-esteem buffers death anxiety, by making you feel like a person of value within your cultural worldview. You feel a part of something bigger than yourself; something that will last long after you are gone. Cultural worldview & Self-esteem

4. Overview of TMT research SUPPORT FOR TMT HAS BEEN OBTAINED IN OVER 250 PUBLISHED EXPERIMENTS BY INDEPENDENT RESEARCHERS IN 9 COUNTRIES BASED ON TWO BASIC HYPOTHESES:

5. THE SELF-ESTEEM HYPOTHESIS IF SELF-ESTEEM SERVES AN ANXIETY BUFFERING FUNCTION, • Then raising self-esteem should reduce anxiety in response to stressful situations • Studies have shown that dispositionally high or momentarily elevated self-esteem reduces: self-reported anxiety, defensive distortions, and physiological arousal in response to stressful situations

6. The mortality salience (MS) hypothesis: • If worldview and self-esteem provide protection from the potential for death-related anxiety • Then reminders of death should intensify efforts to uphold worldview and self-esteem.

7. Mortality Salience Paradigm • Mortality salience manipulation typically consists of two open-ended questions pertaining to death: “Describe the feelings that the thought of your own death arouses in you”; and (b) Describe what you think will happen to you as you physically die and once you are dead.” • Control: Parallel questions about unpleasant but non-lethal events • Mortality salience also engendered by:fear of death scales, videos of gory automobile accidents, standing in front of funeral parlors, and subliminal death primes have obtained similar results • Mortality salience effects appear to be unique to concerns about death, control conditions asking people to ponder anxiety-provoking but non-lethal things like dental pain, exams, social exclusion & paralysis – do not produce these effects.

8. Mortality Salience Effects 1 • Rosenblatt et al. (1989) published the first study of the effects of mortality salience on social attitudes. • Hypotheses: If Moral Values represent Cultural Worldviews And prostitution is a violation of moral values Then, Under the mortality salience paradigm Judges should be more punitive as a way to bolster their Worldview Defense Mechanism

9. Mortality Salience Effects 1 • Twenty-two municipal court judges from Tucson, Arizona completed a series of personality questionnaires • Half were randomly assigned to the MS condition and answered two open-ended questions about death • The judges were then given a hypothetical case in which they were asked to set bond for accused prostitutes.

10. Mortality Salience Effects 1 • Those judges in the mortality salience group set bond at an average of $455 • Those judges in the control group set bond at an average of $50 • The judges who had been reminded of their death were much harsher in their punishment of a person who had violated rules of social worldview than were judges for whom death had not been made salient.

11. Mortality Salience Effects 2 • “One very common source of differences between people that has been recurrently linked to prejudice, conflict, and hostility is that of religious belief and affiliation. Throughout history, armed conflicts, ranging from minor skirmishes to full-scale wars, have been waged between the proponents of various religious conceptions of reality.” (Greenberg et al; 1990)

12. Mortality Salience Effects 2 The Effects of Mortality Salience on Reactions to those who Threaten or Bolster the Cultural Worldview (Greenberg et al; 1990) • TMT: Enthusiasm for conflicts among those who actually end up doing the killing and the dying is fueled by the threat implied to each group's cultural anxiety-buffer by the existence of the other group. • The mere existence of others with similar beliefs validates one's faith in one's cultural worldview • The mere existence of others with different beliefs threatens that faith.

13. Mortality Salience Effects 2 Hypotheses: • Mortality salience will increase liking for a member of one's own religious group (Christians) • Mortality salience will decrease liking for a member of a religious out-group (Jews)

14. Mortality Salience Effects 2 To test these hypotheses: • Twenty-six female and 20 male Christian introductory psychology students • 1- Filled out some personality questionnaires • 2- Were given personality information supplied by two other subjects that they would use to evaluate those subjects (a Christian and a Jew)

15. Mortality Salience Effects 2 Independent Variable’s: • Demographic information: religious affiliations • “Who am I?” questionnaire • Janis–Field self-esteem inventory • 10 social issue statements • Participants randomly assigned to MS condition or no condition

16. Mortality Salience Effects 2 Experimenter returned with; • The two completed versions supposedly filled out by two other participants • There were relatively similar responses on the background questionnaire and the Who Am I? Questionnaire • On the social issues questionnaire, one version had politically liberal responses and one had relatively conservative responses. Different attitudes were presented so that the targets would seem to be real, fairly different persons.

17. Mortality Salience Effects 2 • Background questionnaire—Jew or Christian • Who Am I? Questionnaire—Jew or Christian • Social issues questionnaire of two supposed male subjects—Liberal or Conservative • Two sets of initial impressions assessments and an envelope—to be filled out by participant • Interpersonal Judgment Scale • 20 traits—5 fit negative Jewish Stereotypes

18. Mortality Salience Effects 2 • Two sets of initial impressions assessments and an envelope—to be filled out by participant • Interpersonal Judgment Scale • 20 traits—5 fit negative Jewish Stereotypes • Subjects were instructed to evaluate the subjects and to fill out the first impression assessment as soon as they finished reading about the first subject • subjects rated each target immediately after reading the description of that person.

19. Mortality Salience Effects 2 Results: Trait Ratings • In Mortality Salience condition--Christian was rated significantly more positively than the Jew • In Mortality Salience condition--Jew rated significantly more negatively than in control condition

20. MS Defense Mechanisms: Mortality Salience has been demonstrated to increase: affiliation with sports teams a desire for conspicuous consumption charitable donations alleviation of depressive and anxiety disorders close relationships sexual relationships body image voting preferences

21. Anti-Semitism Studies Materials: • Instruction page: Bogus Pipeline or Prejudice obvious manipulation • Mortality Salience or Exam Salience Questions • Anti-Semitism Scale • Support for Israel Scale • Support for Israel and Palestinian Scales • Feeling Thermometer: Jew • Demographics

22. Anti-Semitism Studies Results: Anti-Semitism Scale: • Under Mortality Salience and Bogus Pipeline participants report more Anti-Semitic Sentiment Support for Israel Scale: • Under Mortality Salience and Bogus Pipeline participants report less Sentiment in support of Israel • Sig. Correlation between the two

23. Today’s Map Study Based on the Sig. Correlation found between the Anti-Semitism and the Support for Israel Scale we Hypothesized: • 1- Anti-Zionism is the “New Anti-Semitism” • 2- One holding Anti-Semitic/Zionistic views will view the country of Israel looming larger that it is in actuality • 3- Under Mortality Salience, people will estimate Israel to be larger than under Exam Salience • 4- This Effect will not be found for any other country

24. Today’s Map Study Materials: • Instruction page: Bogus Pipeline • Mortality Salience or Exam Salience Induction • Mood Scale • Individual country and population assessment • Feeling Thermometer • Anti-Semitism/Zionism “Opinion Poll” • News Media Questionnaire • Demographics