The Role of Death Anxiety and Self-Esteem in Suicide Attitudes

2021 ◽  
pp. 003022282110009
Author(s):  
Athena Kheibari ◽  
Julie Cerel
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Death Anxiety ◽  
Terror Management Theory ◽  
Terror Management ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Management Theory ◽  
Careful Examination ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Willingness To Intervene

The persistent stigmatization of suicide calls for a careful examination of the thought processes involved in perceptions of suicide. Hence, the present study is the first to apply terror management theory (TMT) and use experimental methods to examine whether reminders of death lead to increased stigma towards suicide and whether self-esteem moderates these stigmatized reactions. Consistent with the predicted effect of the death anxiety and self-esteem hypothesis, findings revealed that, for respondents with low self-esteem, thinking about their own death led to more stigma, less willingness to intervene, and allocated less money to a suicide prevention organization as compared to those who did not think about death. Findings from this study could have important implications for how we understand the psychological underpinnings of stigma and the role of death anxiety in hostile attitudes and decreased altruism – especially for mental health professionals working with individuals affected by suicide.

Role of Social Detachment in Coping With Death Anxiety

2017 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saurabh Maheshwari ◽  
Tuheena Mukherjee
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Death Anxiety ◽  
Terror Management Theory ◽  
Terror Management ◽  
Adaptive Strategy ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Management Theory ◽  
Coping With Death

The present research examines the strength of terror management theory in an indigenous Indian context of religious fair called Magh Mela. It explores how elderly Hindu people deal with death anxiety through practicing Kalpvas in Magh Mela. The research explores the role of social detachment and self-esteem in coping with terror of death. Study 1, a field experiment on 150 Kalpvasis (practitioners of Kalpvas) confirms the significant role of social detachment as an adaptive strategy for coping with death terror. The role of self-esteem did not emerge in the study. Study 2, another field experiment on 62 Kalpvasis confirms results of study 1. Significant role of years of Kalpvas on fear of death shows importance of the religious practices in managing terror related to death. The relation of terror management theory and death anxiety thus follows a different explanation for more indigenous contexts.

Collective in exile: Utilizing terror management theory to understand women’s wailing performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tova Gamliel
Keyword(s):  
Death Anxiety ◽  
Terror Management Theory ◽  
Mortality Salience ◽  
Terror Management ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Community Context ◽  
Management Theory ◽  
Adaptive Value ◽  
Traditional Performance

Although women’s wailing at death rites in various cultures typically amplifies mortality salience, this ritual phenomenon is absent in the research literature on terror management theory (TMT). This study explored Yemenite-Jewish wailing in Israel as an example of how a traditional performance manages death anxiety in a community context. Observations of wailing events and interviews with Yemenite-Jewish wailers and mourners in Israel were analyzed to understand respondents’ perceptions of the experience of wailing as well as the anxiety-oriented psychotherapeutic expertise involved. The findings are discussed to propose an alternative outlook on the intersubjective adaptive value of death anxiety. After describing TMT’s view on the role of culture in coping with death anxiety, I consider the extent to which Yemenite-Jewish wailing is consistent with the premises of TMT.

The Role of Close Relationships in Terror Management: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 307-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Plusnin ◽  
Christopher A. Pepping ◽  
Emiko S. Kashima
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Close Relationships ◽  
Terror Management Theory ◽  
Terror Management ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Management Theory ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Moderating Factors ◽  
Relational Outcomes

Terror management theory outlines how humans seek self-esteem and worldview validation to manage death-related anxiety. Accumulating evidence reveals that close relationships serve a similar role. However, to date, there has been no synthesis of the literature that delineates when close relationships buffer mortality concerns, under what conditions, on which specific outcomes, and for whom. This systematic review presents over two decades of research to address these questions. Findings from 73 reviewed studies revealed that close relationships serve an important role in buffering death-related anxiety. A range of dispositional and situational moderating factors influence either the activation or inhibition of relational strivings to manage heightened death awareness, the most influential being attachment, gender, and relationship-contingent self-esteem. These findings were integrated into an overarching model that highlights some of the conditions under which mortality salience (MS) influences relational outcomes. We conclude by highlighting a range of theoretical and methodological concerns to be addressed by future research.

Terrorism, Violence, and Hope for Peace

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 318-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Pyszczynski ◽  
Zachary Rothschild ◽  
Abdolhossein Abdollahi
Keyword(s):  
Terror Management Theory ◽  
Terror Management ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
The Self ◽  
Management Theory ◽  
Perceived Injustice ◽  
Management Processes ◽  
Cultural Worldviews ◽  
Terrorist Violence

Terror management theory (TMT) is used to explore psychological forces that act to promote or discourage support for terrorism and violent counterterrorist policies. According to TMT, domination, humiliation, and perceived injustice threaten the self-esteem and cultural worldviews that protect people from death-related anxiety; the result may be hostility and violence directed against the threatening out-group as a way of defusing this threat. We review research documenting the role of terror management processes in promoting and discouraging support for terrorism and violent counterterrorist policies and discuss the implications of this research. The studies we review suggest that the same psychological forces that promote support for terrorist violence also promote support for aggressive counterterrorist policies and that these forces can be redirected to encourage support for more peaceful solutions on both sides of the current conflict between Islamic radical groups and Western nations.

Online Interactions as a Terror Management Mechanism

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 30-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Partouche-Sebban
Keyword(s):  
Death Anxiety ◽  
Terror Management Theory ◽  
Terror Management ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Social Recognition ◽  
Online Interactions ◽  
Self Image ◽  
Facebook Use ◽  
The Relationship

Death is source of fascination and fear and the deny of death is at the basis of the human motivation. Terror Management Theory suggests that death awareness and the fundamental instinct of self-preservation create a potential for anxiety that individuals try to face by using different mechanisms oriented toward self-esteem striving. While existing research deals with the role of close relationships in the terror management, research on how online interactions may serve as a terror mechanism is lacking. This research seeks to examine the relationship between death anxiety and Facebook use. A quantitative study was conducted among 181 participants. Results show a positive relationship between death anxiety and Facebook use, as Facebook is a means to present a valuable self-image and gain social recognition. Contributions for social marketing in particular and limits of the study are discussed.

Why Does Ingroup Identification Shield People from Death Anxiety?

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 320-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Herrera ◽  
Fabio Sani
Keyword(s):  
Mediation Analysis ◽  
Death Anxiety ◽  
Terror Management Theory ◽  
Mortality Salience ◽  
Terror Management ◽  
Moderated Mediation ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Management Theory ◽  
Need For Closure ◽  
Ingroup Identification

Research to date guided by terror management theory has demonstrated that mortality salience increases ingroup identification. However, the process that leads from death reminders to group investment has remained underinvestigated. We tested a model in which mortality salience increased the perceived continuity of the group while at the same time strengthening the perception of group entitativity. In turn, higher perceived group entitativity led to enhanced ingroup identification. Three-path mediation analysis showed that mortality salience transmitted its effects onto ingroup identification indirectly, progressing first through perceived collective continuity and then through ingroup entitativity. Moderated mediation analysis revealed that personal self-esteem and the need for closure did not moderate this effect of mortality salience on ingroup identification.

scholarly journals Mindfulness of Death as a Tool for Mortality Salience Induction with Reference to Terror Management Theory

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 353
Author(s):  
Hyun Gong Moon
Keyword(s):  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Terror Management Theory ◽  
Mortality Salience ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Terror Management ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Social Attitudes ◽  
Management Theory ◽  
Cultural Worldview ◽  
Mindfulness Of Death

In this article, I argue that “mindfulness of death” (maraṇasati) can be a tool to induce mortality salience and can have a positive psychological impact. The mindfulness of death is described in detail in the early Buddhist texts Aṅguttara Nikāya and Visuddhimagga. The texts stress that death should be consciously connected with temporality and mindfulness. Here, I look at the mindfulness of death in relation to the mortality salience of terror management theory. “Mortality salience” is a term proposed in terror management theory that means “the state of conscious activation of the thoughts of death”. In addition, after conscious activation of the thought of death, I examine the psychological changes, such as the increase of pro-social attitudes which emphasizes ethics and morality, and the emphasis on the intrinsic value of life due to the operation of a cultural worldview and self-esteem. In this paper, I conclude that mindfulness of death can be an effective tool to induce mortality salience.

Existential Meaning and Terror Management

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheldon Solomon ◽  
Jeff Greenberg
Keyword(s):  
Terror Management Theory ◽  
Terror Management ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Psychological Disorders ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Management Theory ◽  
Cultural Worldview ◽  
Symbolic Immortality ◽  
Religious Extremism ◽  
Human Awareness

Terror management theory (TMT) posits that the uniquely human awareness of death engenders potentially debilitating existential terror that is “managed” by subscribing to cultural worldviews providing a sense that life has meaning as well as opportunities to obtain self-esteem, in pursuit of psychological equanimity in the present and literal or symbolic immortality in the future. In empirical support of TMT, research has demonstrated that: self-esteem serves to buffer anxiety in general, and about death in particular; reminders of death increase defense of the cultural worldview and efforts to bolster self-esteem; threats to the cultural worldview or self-esteem increase the accessibility of implicit death thoughts; conscious and non-conscious thoughts of death instigate qualitatively different defensive processes; death reminders increase hostility toward people with different beliefs, affection for charismatic leaders, and support for political and religious extremism; and death reminders magnify symptoms of psychological disorders.

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