Outgroup difference threatens the death-buffering worldview, driving defensive prejudice

Evidence

Different others can suggest there is something wrong or lacking in one’s own worldview, either explicitly (by expressing disagreement with you) or implicitly (by simply having beliefs that differ from yours). One’s own cultural worldview is the fundamental basis for attaining psychological security from death, but members of other cultures typically hold to a different worldview. In this way, these others imply that your own worldview might not be the right one, thereby threatening your psychological equanimity. One must therefore defend against this potential threat posed by different others in order to sustain one’s beliefs and thereby keep death-related anxiety at bay. — Jeff Greenberg and Spee Kosloff, Terror Management Theory, 29

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Outgroup religious difference plus perceived value threat predicts fundamentalist prejudice — Sherman A. Lee, Chelsea A. Reid, Stephen D. Short, Jeffrey A. Gibbons, Ruth Yeh, and Matthew L. Campbell, Fear of Muslims: Psychometric…, 35; Contextual threat and competition alter prejudice by shifting worldviews. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2479; Distinctiveness threats shift outgroup behavior but barely affect outgroup judgments. (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Fear of death drives conflict between competing worldviews #corroborates (0.92)
• Group conflict arises from worldview threat to existential meaning #corroborates (0.90)
• Bicultural individuals shift worldviews contextually under death threat #expands (0.85) — Jeff Greenberg and Spee Kosloff, Terror Management Theory, 82
• Outgroup religious difference plus perceived value threat predicts fundamentalist prejudice #exemplifies (0.82) — Sherman A. Lee, Chelsea A. Reid, Stephen D. Short, Jeffrey A. Gibbons, Ruth Yeh, and Matthew L. Campbell, Fear of Muslims, 35
• Group-difference beliefs only become problematic when they justify prejudice #qualifies (0.82) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 843
• Prejudice motivates perceived group differences rather than emerging from them #complicates (0.80) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 892
• Contextual threat and competition alter prejudice by shifting worldviews. #expands (0.78) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2479
• Perceived rather than actual conflict drives intergroup prejudice #qualifies (0.76) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3317
• Distinctiveness threats shift outgroup behavior but barely affect outgroup judgments. #complicates (0.72)