TMT proposes that people are uniquely able to recognize their death and hence they must control the existential fear and anxiety that is brought by being aware of their limited time on Earth.

The terror management theory was established by researchers in psychology Tom Pyszczynski, Jeff Greenberg, and Sheldon Solomon who printed the first terror management theory article in the year 1986. They grounded terror management theory on Ernest Becker’s writings, which spoke of the obligation to safeguard against death terror universality.

This article is an in-depth summary of basic concepts of terror management theory, empirical evidence supporting TMT, TMT, and applications of TMT across various fields. Our assignment writing services will meet the requirements of your paper.

What is terror management theory in psychology?

In psychology, TMT suggests that individuals recognize their inescapable death more compared to animals. Psychologists Pyszczynski, Greenberg, and Solomon suggested in their research in 1986 that death awareness shapes 3 different factors including:

1. Self-esteem

2. Cultural worldviews
3. Close interpersonal associations

TMT explains that individuals safeguard themselves against their death awareness or mortality salience, depending on whether they have unconscious or conscious fears.

If they are conscious, individuals combat death concerns through proximal securities by removing the fear from their sensory awareness. If they aren’t conscious, distal defenses like a meaning sense, like value such as self-esteem, or cultural worldviews, diminish unconscious death concerns.

Self-esteem and cultural worldviews are key TMT concepts. Both are central to safeguard against death salience. A New York licensed psychologist David Tzall, PsyD, notes, “TMT proposes that people defend and gravitate towards their cultural philosophy more aggressively when facing mortality thoughts.”

Through cultural philosophy, people can obtain symbolic or literal immortality. Normally the religious cultural philosophy domain is literal immortality which is the notion that you’ll continue to live after your death. Symbolic immortality refers to the notion that something bigger than yourself continues to live after your death, like paintings, families, books, monuments, or everything else that survives after you’re gone.

Self-esteem contributes significantly to TMT also. “When confronted with death awareness,” Tzall notes, “Individuals often participate in behaviors or activities that enhance their self-esteem like a way of managing the anxiety related to mortality.” Therefore, they give the perception that they’re a valuable meaningful universe participant.

These have given rise to two significant TMT hypotheses. First, the death salience hypothesis states you’ve got negative responses to people from a distinct group, referred to as “out groupers,” who pose a risk to your group and possess positive responses to the individuals who represent your cultural values, called “in groupers.” Secondly, the anxiety buffer hypothesis states strengthening your anxiety buffer, e.g., by improving self-esteem, must limit the individual’s death anxiety.

Empirical Evidence Backing up TMT

There exist over 500 research conducted in nations around the globe supporting terror management theory. For instance, one study discovered that boosting self-esteem limits anxiety in reaction to death images. Similarly, boosting self-esteem minimizes the mortality salience effects on one’s worldview defense. When the psychological researchers gave positive feedback rather than neutral personality feedback, their desire for an author based in the U.S was identical to the preference of the reference group, while participants who got neutral personality feedback far surpassed the author’s preferred control group.

Another research discovered that threat worldviews increase death thoughts accessibility. When citizens of Canada were prone to websites derogating Australian values or Canadian values, they possessed extremely more death thoughts when they experienced information of anti-Canadian.

Terror management theory examples

There are various ways that TMT can be utilized in the real world. Tzall gives some examples, like “religion where religion practices and beliefs give explanations for purpose, meaning of life, and what occurs after death. Individuals will rely on religion to find comfort in the afterlife idea and ease existential anxiety.”

Having faith in religion might provide a literal immortality chance, but above that, it may give a cultural philosophy that brings life purpose and meaning and can ease mortality salience.

Similarly, Tzall provides an example of being part of a country that “gives a belonging and identity sense, which can assist individuals feel linked to something continuing. People might strive to attain success, create important relationships, or serve the society in means that have a permanent effect.” There exist in all possible ways that individuals can discover meaning and obtain symbolic immortality, comprising belonging to a nation that’ll continue to exist after death.

Furthermore, feeling like the nation’s part, individuals will desire to place their stamp on the country whether through industry success, meaningful relationships that’ve got a lasting impression, or other alternatives like writing books, volunteering, or starting a family.

Implications of TMT across Various Fields

Various fields can utilize terror management theory in numerous ways. For instance, the most evident might be the counseling and therapy field. As Tzall expounds, “TMT gives insight on how peoples’ psychological behavior, well-being, and self-esteem are affected by mortality thoughts.” Tzall notes, that this “can assist therapists comprehend existential anxiety as well as advance strategies to deal with it successfully.”

The theory might similarly be applied in advertising and marketing, but the focus is different. “Terror management theory can edify advertising procedures that profit from symbolic immortality consumers’ desires,” Tzall states. In this idea, advertisers and marketers advertise services and goods in a manner that expresses their respective symbolic immortality will be fulfilled.

Likewise, political science “will help describe the approaches in which a leader appeals to the existential concerns of his/her followers’,” expounds Tzall, “and political ideologies to get assistance.” Through cultural philosophy that appreciates other people resembling them but declines others that aren’t like them, a leader can exploit his/her followers and paradoxically guide them to rebel against others that don’t support them, in events, wars, or conflicts like 6^th January, where few like-minded nationals stormed Congress.

Importance of TMT in Understanding Beliefs and Human Behavior

Though some research about terror management theory hasn’t been replicated, TMT has continued to agree with many individuals. And researchers nevertheless apply it to define different events.

For instance, a researchers group applied TMT to describe the coronavirus pandemic in the course of its height, describing that irrespective of the fatality of the virus, the dying risk was highly noticeable. Due to this, in reaction to the epidemic, people reacted to the persistent death fear in both distal and proximal ways. Another example of applying TMT  is with the Black Death Pandemic which also had adverse death cases.

In proximal manners: eating and drinking excessively assert that the coronavirus virus is not nearly as fatal as health Professionals claim. Whereas in distal manners: affirming the cultural worldview of an individual to maximize a person’s self-esteem, under the literature of TMT. As dangers that remind you of your death expand and continue, TMT will keep on being a leading understanding belief and human behavior source.

TMT Ramifications

TMT can generate immense hostility and prejudice. Because individuals try to figure out their mortality concerns, anything that is distinct from your own or that might threaten your cultural worldview might feel frightening.

One study in research that assessed individuals’ Twitter reactions after a Berlin terrorist attack realized that some key reactions that happen after similar violence include:

• Disdain for different cultural values than your own
• Prejudice
• Stereotyping

That is to say, being familiar with death inevitability can boost positive feelings regarding those who have political, cultural, or religious beliefs and raise negative feelings regarding those who do not share similar beliefs.

This implies that among the important TMT ramifications is that the theory places a division between individuals who do not share the same beliefs. If other people do not have a similar worldview, this can form a demand to safeguard yourself against other people.

An in-depth Exploration of TMT

As per the TMT creators, it has 4 key propositions  that you can incorporate in your homework writing:

1. Morality-salience hypothesis
2. Anxiety-buffer hypothesis
3. DTA hypothesis
4. The 3 hypotheses combination

The anxiety-buffer proposes that self-esteem reduces anxiety associated with the perceived death threat. Multiple studies in research have confirmed the hypothesis and discovered that both high and manipulated self-esteem levels minimized fear associated with death thoughts.

The mortality-salience states the notion that when individuals have death, they boost protection regarding:

• Worldviews
• Close personal relationships with others
• Self-esteem

Whatever then endangers these three mechanisms of protection elicits a negative reaction, and whatever supports these mechanisms evokes a positive reaction and reduces anxiety.

The (DTA) death-thought accessibility hypothesis states that all situations that threaten the anxiety shield system of an individual increase thoughts related to death.

Dangers then make people defensive concerning their viewpoints and expand endeavoring for close interpersonal associations and self-esteem.

Key takeaways

• TMT is the notion that you create aspects of your life that’ll “outlive” you and your culture because of your knowledge of your death which is inherently terrifying to you.
• TMT was initially proposed by Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, and Tom Pyszczynski in the year 1986.
• There exists a wide research variety related to TMT, including topics like COVID-19 pandemic, climate response, performance, and reckless driving.
• TMT has death fear, political views, and celebrity culture implications.

Conclusion

There exist many TMT examples and their applications to our lives as evident in this article on terror management theory. For example, it can affect how you respond after a natural disaster or worldwide crisis. It might also influence how we make individual health decisions, like the option to use alcohol or exercise.

TMT can have unfavorable effects, like creating biases or stereotypes toward other people. It is also capable of increasing unity with other individuals who want to collaborate to support a cause or share the same beliefs.

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