Mortality salience increases stereotypic thinking and preference for stereotype-confirming others.

Evidence

Research has shown that a culture’s over-generalized beliefs about certain groups, or stereotypes, are easily brought to mind even for people who disavow prejudice (Devine, 1989). According to TMT, then, stereotypes are internalized aspects of our worldviews that make members of other groups seem simpler and more predictable, and in many cases make them seem inferior, as if they are not even human. Accordingly, mortality salience should increase stereotypic thinking and preference for those who conform to a stereotype over those who call that stereotype into question. — Jeff Greenberg and Spee Kosloff, Terror Management Theory, 45

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Devine’s automatic stereotype activation work; relates to the reader’s interest in negation-only identities since stereotype thinking reduces outgroup members to simple predictable (non-human) categories rather than affirmative content. — connects to: Death-thought accessibility does not mediate mortality salience effects on ingroup defense. — Dmitrij Agroskin and Eva Jonas, Controlling death by defending…, 160; Mortality salience effects grow over time while uncertainty and meaninglessness effects decay. — Dmitrij Agroskin and Eva Jonas, Controlling death by defending…, 163; Stereotype beliefs shift with the situational context of the target group member (+15 more)

Broader Connections

• Mortality reminders increase perceived in-group entitativity, buffering death anxiety. #qualifies (0.85) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 257
• Stereotype beliefs shift with the situational context of the target group member #qualifies (0.82)
• Stereotypes shape perception, memory, judgment, and even elicit confirming behavior #corroborates (0.80) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1374
• Mortality threats drive group identification through perceived loss of control, not symbolic immortality. #qualifies (0.80) — Immo Fritsche, Agency Through the We, 41
• Death-thought accessibility does not mediate mortality salience effects on ingroup defense. #qualifies (0.78) — Dmitrij Agroskin and Eva Jonas, Controlling death by defending ingroups, 160
• Fear of status loss triggers reflexive disparagement of others #expands (0.78) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 115
• Changes in stereotype content reflect adaptation to social norms, not reduced prejudice #complicates (0.76) — Cristian Tileagă, The Nature of Prejudice, 204
• Mortality salience effects grow over time while uncertainty and meaninglessness effects decay. #expands (0.75) — Dmitrij Agroskin and Eva Jonas, Controlling death by defending ingroups, 163
• Threat biases memory, stereotype disconfirmation, and perceived outgroup size. #corroborates (0.75) — Walter G. Stephan, Oscar Ybarra, Kimberly Rios Morrison, Intergroup Threat Theory, 17
• Self-interest shifts which stereotype category gets applied #qualifies (0.75)
• Stereotyping increases when perceivers lack cognitive energy #expands (0.74)
• Stereotypes influence judgments even when perceivers are unaware #expands (0.74) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2933
• Stereotype content adapts to serve a resistant underlying attitude #complicates (0.73)
• Positive stereotypes may also induce perceived threat #expands (0.73) — Blake M. Riek, Eric W. Mania, and Samuel L. Gaertner, Intergroup Threat and Outgroup Attitudes, 153
• Stereotypes can enable efficient thought rather than only distort it #complicates (0.72) — Robert Irwin, For Lust of Knowing, 505