A Terror Management Theory of Social Behavior: The Psychological Functions of Self-Esteem and Cultural Worldviews

Solomon, Sheldon; Greenberg, Jeff; Pyszczynski, Tom

doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60328-7

Cited by 984 publications

(963 citation statements)

References 129 publications

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“…Proposed functions include coping with guilt and anxiety (Allport 1954), self-esteem enhancement through downward comparisons (Wills 1981), management of terror associated with awareness of one's mortality (Solomon et al 1991), simplification of information processing (Allport 1954;Hamilton and Trollier 1986), competitive group advantage (Allport 1954;Feagin 2000;Tajfel and Turner 1979) and system justification (Corrigan et al 2003;Jost and Banaji 1994). These explanations do not specify why particular groups are targeted for stigma or prejudice (Stangor and Crandall 2000).…”

Section: Relation To Other Functional Explanations Of Stigma and Prejmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stigma and prejudice: One animal or two?

Phelan¹,

Link²,

Dovidio

2008

Social Science & Medicine

601

437

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In light of increasing cross-communication and possible coalescence of conceptual models of stigma and prejudice, we reviewed 18 key models in order to explore commonalities and possible distinctions between prejudice and stigma. We arrive at two conclusions. First, the two sets of models have much in common (representing "one animal"); most differences are a matter of focus and emphasis. Second, one important distinction is in the type of human characteristics that are the primary focus of models of prejudice (race) and stigma (deviant behavior and identities, and disease and disabilities). This led us to develop a typology of three functions of stigma and prejudice: exploitation and domination (keeping people down); norm enforcement (keeping people in); and disease avoidance (keeping people away). We argue that attention to these functions will enhance our understanding of stigma and prejudice and our ability to reduce them. Keywords stigma; prejudice; conceptual models; race; disease; disability "Ethnic prejudice is an antipathy based upon a faulty and inflexible generalization. It may be felt or expressed. It may be directed toward a group as a whole, or toward an individual because he is a member of that group" (Allport 1954: 9). "Stigma … is the situation of the individual who is disqualified from full social acceptance" (Goffman 1963: preface). The stigmatized individual is "reduced in our minds from a whole and usual person to a tainted, discounted one" (Goffman 1963: 3).So are the terms "prejudice" and "stigma" defined by the authors who gave life to eachAllport publishing The Nature of Prejudice in 1954 and Goffman Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity in 1963. Since then, largely separate literatures have developed around the two concepts. However, there is evidence that these literatures have begun to coalesce. Increased attention by prejudice researchers to the targets of prejudice in the 1990s (Crocker and Garcia 2006) brought greater overlap to work on stigma and prejudice. The concepts of stigma, prejudice, and discrimination increasingly are used by the © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Corresponding Author: Dr. Jo Phelan jcp13@columbia.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript same authors in the same texts (e.g., Heatherton et al. 2000;Levin and Van Laar 2006). In 2006, the National Institute of Mental Health brought together prejudice and stigma researchers to address the problem of mental-illness stigma. This special i...

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Section: Relation To Other Functional Explanations Of Stigma and Prejmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stigma and prejudice: One animal or two?

Phelan¹,

Link²,

Dovidio

2008

Social Science & Medicine

601

437

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…First, unlike other fatal diseases, dementia not only threatens the physical self but also aspects of the 'symbolic self' (Becker 1973), the very aspect of human identity that separates humans from other animals. Terror-management theory (Solomon et al 1991) argues that people have a need to distinguish themselves from animals and seek a higher and more meaningful existence. Accordingly, people seek and find comfort in the existence of the immortal, symbolic self in the face of the death of the physical self.…”

Section: Defining Dwmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dementia worry: a psychological examination of an unexplored phenomenon

et al. 2012

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According to recent surveys, dementia worry (DW) is a widespread phenomenon in mid-life and old age, at least in Western populations. DW has been shown to be only loosely related to sociodemographic factors. Unfortunately, the concept of DW has found only very little conceptual and empirical attention in previous research. In this conceptual review, we take (mostly) a psychological approach to DW. First, we define DW as an emotional response to the perceived threat of developing dementia. We then conceptualise DW as a hybrid, combining elements of ageing anxiety and health anxiety. On the population level, we argue that the high prevalence of DW may be reflective of the increasing awareness of dementia in times of increasing ''dementia encounters', widespread misperceptions of risks and consequences of dementia and a perceived lack of coping resources. Finally, we propose that DW may affect a range of important behaviours, such as how people interpret evidence of their own or others' age-related cognitive changes, how they interact with people with dementia, how they anticipate and plan for their future, how they engage in screening and prevention behaviours and how they exploit healthcare resources. We conclude with suggestions for future research, including a further in-depth investigation of psychological and micro-/ macrosocial factors associated with DW.

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“…(pp. 1081-1082) DISCRIMINATION AS WORLDVIEW THREAT OR WORLDVIEW CONFIRMATION Worldviews help to satisfy humans' fundamental need to understand their social world and to feel like people of worth (Fiske, 2004;Hogg, 2001;Solomon et al, 1991). Hence, confirmation of one's worldview should increase feelings of certainty, security, and positive affect, whereas threats to one's worldview should increase feelings of vulnerability, distress, and negative affect (Greenberg et al 1997;Janoff-Bulman, 1989;Kaiser, Vick, & Major, 2004;Lerner, 1977).…”

Section: Cultural Worldviews and Status Ideologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We do not think that self-esteem suffers or rises in response to the contradiction or confirmation of every belief. Rather, we theorize that self-esteem is altered when beliefs that provide personal meaning and value, that is, beliefs that are core aspects of one's worldview, are challenged or confirmed (Solomon et al, 1991). We also think it unlikely that individuals who reject a meritocracy worldview experience a boost to their self-esteem every time they encounter discrimination against their ingroup or that they experience a decline in self-esteem every time they read about a lack of bias against their ingroup.…”

Section: Limitations and Directions For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived discrimination as worldview threat or worldview confirmation: Implications for self-esteem.

Major¹,

Kaiser²,

O’Brien³

et al. 2007

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

270

312

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In 3 studies, the authors tested the hypothesis that discrimination targets' worldview moderates the impact of perceived discrimination on self-esteem among devalued groups. In Study 1, perceiving discrimination against the ingroup was negatively associated with self-esteem among Latino Americans who endorsed a meritocracy worldview (e.g., believed that individuals of any group can get ahead in America and that success stems from hard work) but was positively associated with self-esteem among those who rejected this worldview. Study 2 showed that exposure to discrimination against their ingroup (vs. a non-self-relevant group) led to lower self-esteem, greater feelings of personal vulnerability, and ingroup blame among Latino Americans who endorsed a meritocracy worldview but to higher selfesteem and decreased ingroup blame among Latino Americans who rejected it. Study 3 showed that compared with women informed that prejudice against their ingroup is pervasive, women informed that prejudice against their ingroup is rare had higher self-esteem if they endorsed a meritocracy worldview but lower self-esteem if they rejected this worldview. Findings support the idea that perceiving discrimination against one's ingroup threatens the worldview of individuals who believe that status in society is earned but confirms the worldview of individuals who do not.

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A Terror Management Theory of Social Behavior: The Psychological Functions of Self-Esteem and Cultural Worldviews

Cited by 984 publications

References 129 publications

Stigma and prejudice: One animal or two?

Stigma and prejudice: One animal or two?

Dementia worry: a psychological examination of an unexplored phenomenon

Perceived discrimination as worldview threat or worldview confirmation: Implications for self-esteem.

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