Death reminders uniquely trigger worldview and relationship defense, unlike other aversive threats.

Evidence

Hundreds of published studies to date have demonstrated that mortality salience leads people to favor and defend their cultural worldview and to demonstrate that they possesses socially valued attributes and skills (for a review, see e.g., Greenberg, Solomon, & Arndt, 2008). The research further reveals that MS motivates individuals to deny their animal (and thus finite, meaningless) nature (Goldenberg et al., 2001), to strive for greater closeness in romantic relationships (Mikulincer, Florian, & Hirschberger, 2003), and to prefer people and events that reinforce rather than challenge basic ways in which they view life as meaningful (e.g., Landau et al., 2004). Studies (see Greenberg et al., 2008) have consistently shown that these effects are unique to death reminders and do not occur in response to reminders of other aversive topics (e.g., pain, paralysis, uncertainty) or personally relevant threats (e.g., embarrassment, failure, meaninglessness). — Jeff Greenberg and Spee Kosloff, Terror Management Theory, 19

Categorization

• QUESTION: Reader scanning for identities with only negation — the denial-of-animal-nature result (distancing from one’s finite animality) might be the mechanism by which purely negational identities form their content.
• XREF: connects to: Death reminders evoke ingroup defense through a shared loss-of-control mechanism — Dmitrij Agroskin and Eva Jonas, Controlling death by defending…, 74; Mortality reminders uniquely trigger worldview defense unlike other threats — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core: On the Role of…, 91; Subtle death reminders drive worldview defense, self-esteem striving, and unhealthy behavior. — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core: On the Role of…, 763 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Mortality reminders uniquely trigger worldview defense unlike other threats #corroborates (0.97) — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 91
• Death-awareness drives humans to cling to cultural worldviews and self-esteem #expands (0.90) — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 476
• Subtle death reminders drive worldview defense, self-esteem striving, and unhealthy behavior. #expands (0.85) — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 763
• Mortality reminders increase perceived in-group entitativity, buffering death anxiety. #expands (0.82) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 257
• Threatening cherished beliefs brings thoughts of death closer to awareness #complicates (0.80) — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 178
• Fear of death drives conflict between competing worldviews #expands (0.80)
• People unaware of their death fears are nonetheless governed by layered psychological defenses #expands (0.78) — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 629
• Conscious death thoughts require delay to trigger worldview defenses #qualifies (0.75) — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 626
• Death reminders alter decisions without conscious awareness #qualifies (0.73) — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 84
• Worldview and self-esteem defense is bidirectional with death-thought accessibility. #qualifies (0.72) — Jeff Greenberg and Spee Kosloff, Terror Management Theory, 19
• Reminders of death temporarily spike belief in any available gods #qualifies (0.72) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 615