Embodied terror management: (Simulated) interpersonal touch alleviates existential concerns among Individuals with low self-esteem

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sander L. Koole ◽  
Mandy Tjew A. Sin ◽  
Iris Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Terror Management ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Interpersonal Touch ◽  
Existential Concerns

scholarly journals An Atheist Perspective on Self-Esteem and Meaning Making While Under Death Awareness

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Joseph Coleman ◽  
Kenan Sevinç ◽  
Ralph Hood ◽  
Jonathan Jong
Keyword(s):  
Defense Mechanisms ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Scientific Discovery ◽  
Social Activism ◽  
Terror Management ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Management Framework ◽  
Discovery Education ◽  
Theory Research ◽  
Existential Concerns

In accordance with Terror Management Theory research, secular beliefs can serve an important role for mitigating existential concerns by providing atheists with a method to attain personal meaning and bolster self-esteem. Although much research has suggested that religious beliefs are powerful defense mechanisms, these effects are limited or reveal more nuanced effects when attempting to explain atheists’ (non)belief structures. The possibility of nonbelief that provides meaning in the “here and now” is reinforced by the importance placed on scientific discovery, education, and social activism by many atheists. Thus, these values and ideologies can, and do, allow for empirically testable claims within a Terror Management framework. Although religious individuals can and largely do use religion as a defense strategy against existential concerns, purely secular ideologies are more effective for atheists providing evidence for a hierarchical approach and individual differences within worldview defenses. Evidence for and implications of these arguments are discussed.

The relationship between COVID-19-induced death thoughts and depression during a national lockdown

2021 ◽  
pp. 135910532110671
Author(s):  
Samuel Fairlamb
Keyword(s):  
Terror Management Theory ◽  
Terror Management ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Management Theory ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Death Thoughts ◽  
Death Thought Accessibility ◽  
Existential Concerns

Evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased rates of depression worldwide. Many factors have been identified to relate to this increase depression, but according to Terror Management Theory, the heightened awareness of death during the pandemic has the potential to increase depression for those with low self-esteem. This hypothesis was examined in a U.K. sample during the first national lockdown where depression, self-esteem and death-thought accessibility (DTA) were measured, and a COVID Index (COVID-19 cases and deaths on date of participation) was produced. The COVID Index was positively related to DTA. Additionally, DTA mediated the relationship between the COVID Index and depression scores when participants had low levels of self-esteem. These findings suggest that heightened existential concerns may be a neglected factor increasing depression during the pandemic.

scholarly journals An Atheist Perspective on Self-Esteem and Meaning Making while under Death Awareness

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Coleman ◽  
Kenan Sevinç ◽  
Ralph W. Hood ◽  
Jonathan Jong
Keyword(s):  
Defense Mechanisms ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Scientific Discovery ◽  
Social Activism ◽  
Terror Management ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Management Framework ◽  
Discovery Education ◽  
Theory Research ◽  
Existential Concerns

Abstract In accordance with Terror Management Theory research, secular beliefs can serve an important role for mitigating existential concerns by providing atheists with a method to attain personal meaning and bolster self-esteem. Although much research has suggested that religious beliefs are powerful defense mechanisms, these effects are limited or reveal more nuanced effects when attempting to explain atheists’ (non)belief structures. The possibility of nonbelief that provides meaning in the “here and now” is reinforced by the importance placed on scientific discovery, education, and social activism by many atheists. Thus, these values and ideologies can, and do, allow for empirically testable claims within a Terror Management framework. Although religious individuals can and largely do use religion as a defense strategy against existential concerns, purely secular ideologies are more effective for atheists providing evidence for a hierarchical approach and individual differences within worldview defenses. Evidence for and implications of these arguments are discussed.

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.

scholarly journals The great escape: The role of self-esteem and self-related cognition in terror management

2015 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 121-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnaud Wisman ◽  
Nathan Heflick ◽  
Jamie L. Goldenberg
Keyword(s):  
Terror Management ◽  
Self Esteem

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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