The Causes and Consequences of a Need for Self-Esteem: A Terror Management Theory

Self Cite

1,188

1,132

Three experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis, derived from terror management theory, that reminding people of their mortality increases attraction to those who consensually validate their beliefs and decreases attraction to those who threaten their beliefs. In Study 1, subjects with a Christian religious background were asked to form impressions of Christian and Jewish target persons. Before doing so, mortality was made salient to half of the subjects. In support of predictions, mortality salience led to more positive evaluations of the in-group member (the Christian) and more negative evaluations of the out-group member (the Jew). In Study 2, mortality salience led to especially negative evaluations of an attitudinally dissimilar other, but only among subjects high in authoritarianism. In Study 3, mortality salience led to especially positive reactions to someone who directly praised subjects' cultural worldviews and especially negative reactions to someone who criticized them. The implications of these findings for understanding in-group favoritism, prejudice, and intolerance of deviance are discussed.Although there is great variability in the contents of the worldviews associated with any given culture, all such conceptions provide the universe with order, meaning, value, and the possibility of either literal or symbolic immortality.

Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for terror management theory II: The effects of mortality salience on reactions to those who threaten or bolster the cultural worldview.

Greenberg¹,

Pyszczynski

Solomon

et al. 1990

Self Cite

1,188

1,132

“…Indeed, the theme of similarity unites seemingly distinct research traditions, such as work on attraction (Byrne, 1971;Newcomb, 1961), relationships (Berscheid & Reis, 1998;Murray et al, 2002), stereotyping and prejudice (Allport, 1954;Tajfel & Turner, 1986), balance (Heider, 1958), social identity (Brewer, 1979;Tajfel & Turner, 1986), self-verification (Swann, 1996, and terror management (Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986;Solomon et al, 1991). Note that, despite the range of similarity explored in the above research, it almost 1 Some researchers have made a distinction between the motive to acquire information (e.g., the self-assessment motive; Trope, 1983) and the motive to confirm the validity of information that one has already acquired (e.g., the self-verification motive; Swann, 1996).…”

Section: Establishing the Phenomenonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seeing I to I: A Pathway to Interpersonal Connectedness.

Pinel¹,

Long²,

Landau³

et al. 2006

Self Cite

157

163

The authors introduce the construct of I-sharing-the belief that one shares an identical subjective experience with another person-and the role it plays in liking. In Studies 1-3, participants indicated their liking for an objectively similar and an objectively dissimilar person, one of whom I-shared with them and the other of whom did not. Participants preferred the objectively similar person but only when that person I-shared with them. Studies 4 and 5 highlight the role that feelings of existential isolation and the need for closeness play in people's attraction to I-sharers. In Study 4, people with high needs for interpersonal closeness responded to I-sharers and non-I-sharers with great intensity. In Study 5, priming participants with feelings of existential isolation increased their liking for Isharers over objectively similar others. The results highlight the importance of shared subjective experience and have implications for interpersonal and intergroup processes.

“…Terror management theory (Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986; 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.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Rosenblatt¹,

Greenberg²,

Solomon³

et al. 1989

Self Cite

1,007

986

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; 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.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jeff Greenberg, Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721. needed to provide a means of managing this terror. The conception of reality espoused by any given culture is thus the basis of a cultural anxiety-buffer that serves to protect the individual from the anxiety that results from awareness of his or her vulnerability and ultimate mortality.' According to the theory, however, protection from anxiety requires that one achieve a sense of value or self-esteem within the cultural context. This is because the culture promises secu...