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Evidence for terror management theory: I. The effects of mortality salience on reactions to those who violate or uphold cultural values.

1989; American Psychological Association; Volume: 57; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1037/0022-3514.57.4.681

1939-1315

Abram Rosenblatt, Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon, Tom Pyszczynski, Deborah Lyon,

Optimism, Hope, and Well-being

On the basis of terror management theory, it was hypothesized that when mortality is made salient, Ss would respond especially positively toward those who uphold cultural values and especially negatively toward those who violate cultural values.In Experiment I, judges recommended especially harsh bonds for a prostitute when mortality was made salient.Experiment 2 replicated this finding with student Ss and demonstrated that it occurs only among Ss with relatively negative attitudes toward prostitution.Experiment 3 demonstrated that mortality salience also leads to larger reward recommendations for a hero who upheld cultural values.Experiments 4 and 5 showed that the mortality salience effect does not result from heightened self-awareness or physiological arousal.Experiment 6 replicated the punishment effect with a different mortality salience manipulation.Implications for the role of fear of death in social behavior are discussed.Although it is evident that individual behavior is greatly affected by one's culture, relatively little is known about the forces that promote allegiance to particular cultural worldviews.Terror management theory (Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986; Solomon, Greenberg, & Pyszczynski, 1989, in press) posits that cultural conceptions of reality serve the vital function of buffering the anxiety that results from awareness of human vulnerability and mortality.Consequently, people are highly motivated to maintain faith in the cultural conceptions of reality to which they subscribe and to defend these conceptions against threats.The purpose of the research reported in this article was to test several hypotheses derived from terror management theory concerning reactions to those who uphold and violate cultural worldviews.Terror management theory is based largely on insights gleaned from Ernest Becker's (1962, 1973, 1975) attempts to synthesize contributions from the various social science disciplines into a coherent conception of human motivation and behavior.According to Becker, sophisticated human intellectual abilities lead to an awareness of human vulnerability and mortality, and this awareness creates the potential for overwhelming terror.As these abilities evolved, cultural worldviews began to emerge.The potential for terror put a press on evolving conceptions of reality such that any worldview that was to surviveWe would like to express our appreciation to Lisa Williams for conducting Experiment 5.