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Leung HT, Chew PKH, Caltabiano NJ. Mortality Salience Effects of Critical Incidents - A Systematic Literature Review and Research Agenda. OMEGA-JOURNAL OF DEATH AND DYING 2024; 90:73-119. [PMID: 35491896 DOI: 10.1177/00302228221098890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/21/2024]
Abstract
Critical incidents (CI) trigger acute stress reactions and psychological trauma because of direct or vicarious exposure. These events include natural disasters, wars, terrorist attacks and pandemics, and usually result in deaths and serious physical injuries. Their life-threatening nature makes them reasonable candidates to induce mortality salience (MS). The current review aims to consolidate Terror Management Theory (TMT) research using CIs as MS. A systematic literature review was conducted. Overall, 74 articles with 113 studies were included. Through this review, strong support for MS effects of CI has been found. Consistent with TMT, CIs tend to trigger worldview defence, self-esteem enhancement and relationship seeking. CIs have also been found to impact negatively on individual well-being and organisational health. Recommendations specific to crisis interventions and well-being will be discussed. The review concludes with potential future research directions to strengthen and expand empirical knowledge in CI salience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hoi-Ting Leung
- School of Social and Health Sciences, James Cook University, Singapore
| | - Peter K H Chew
- School of Social and Health Sciences, James Cook University, Singapore
| | - Nerina J Caltabiano
- College of Healthcare Sciences, James Cook University, Cairns Campus, Singapore
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2
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Prentice L, Klackl J, Agroskin D, Grossmann I, Alexandrov Y, Apanovich V, Bezdenezhnykh B, Jonas E. Reaction to norm transgressions and Islamization threat in culturally tight and loose contexts: a cross-cultural comparison of Germany versus Russia. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020; 8:46-69. [PMID: 32626646 PMCID: PMC7319407 DOI: 10.1007/s40167-018-0073-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Prior research shows that North Americans and Western Europeans react to threats with defensive strategies based on behavioral approach vs. inhibition systems (BAS/BIS)—i.e., a desire to approach a goal or to avoid a threat. In the present research, we explored whether this phenomenon is more pronounced in tight cultures (e.g., Germany) as compared to loose cultures (e.g., Russia), testing how Germans and Russians respond to societal threats. We expected that due to the higher levels of cultural tightness, Germans would show stronger defensive reactions to threats than Russians. Additionally, we investigated the role of need for tightness (i.e., need for strict regulation of social order) in threat management processes. In Study 1, Germans recalling violations of societal norms produced stronger rightward bias on the line bisection task than Russians, indicative of greater BAS activation in Germans than in Russians. In Study 2, we used frontal alpha asymmetry, providing the first cross-cultural test of BIS-BAS reactions utilizing neuronal markers. In this study, presentation of societal threat in a video portraying Islamic immigration as a large-scale violation of social norms led to higher BIS activation among Germans than among Russians, if their need for tightness was high. We discuss the role of tightness, need for tightness, and type of threat for cross-cultural particularities of threat-induced motivational shifts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liza Prentice
- Department of Psychology, Social Psychology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Str. 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria
| | - Johannes Klackl
- Department of Psychology, Social Psychology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Str. 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria
| | - Dmitrij Agroskin
- Department of Psychology, Social Psychology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Str. 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria
| | - Igor Grossmann
- Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1 Canada
| | - Yuri Alexandrov
- Laboratory of Neural Bases of Mind, Institute of Psychology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yaroslavskaya Str. 13, Moscow, Russia 129366.,Department of Psychology, National Research University Higher School of Economics, 20 Myasnitskaya Ulitsa, Moscow, Russia 101000
| | - Vladimir Apanovich
- Laboratory of Neural Bases of Mind, Institute of Psychology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yaroslavskaya Str. 13, Moscow, Russia 129366
| | - Boris Bezdenezhnykh
- Laboratory of Neural Bases of Mind, Institute of Psychology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yaroslavskaya Str. 13, Moscow, Russia 129366
| | - Eva Jonas
- Department of Psychology, Social Psychology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Str. 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria
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TOYA A, NAKASHIMA K. RECONSIDERING TERROR MANAGEMENT THEORY IN JAPAN. PSYCHOLOGIA 2020. [DOI: 10.2117/psysoc.2019-a110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Zeng T, Tse CS. Does the mortality salience effect on worldview defence depend on the cultural orientation of Chinese people? INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2018; 55:291-304. [PMID: 30592038 DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2018] [Accepted: 11/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
According to the terror management theory, people tend to favour their worldview and in-group members after being reminded of death (i.e., mortality salience [MS] effect). However, inconsistent findings of the MS effect were found among Chinese people. In the present study, we examined the MS effect with Chinese samples and tested whether the effect would depend on participants' cultural orientation and relational self-esteem. In Studies 1 (N = 227) and 2 (N = 221), we examined the roles of participants' cultural orientations and relational self-esteem in their evaluations on moral transgression and/or perceived regard from people around after being primed with mortality (vs. dental pain) salience. We obtained the interaction effects of mortality salience, cultural orientations, and relational self-esteem. The implications of these results are discussed in the context of Chinese culture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taoran Zeng
- Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
| | - Chi-Shing Tse
- Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
- Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
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Martin LL, van den Bos K. Beyond terror: Towards a paradigm shift in the study of threat and culture. EUROPEAN REVIEW OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2014. [DOI: 10.1080/10463283.2014.923144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Du H, Jonas E, Klackl J, Agroskin D, Hui EK, Ma L. Cultural influences on terror management: Independent and interdependent self-esteem as anxiety buffers. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2013.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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8
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Yen CL. It is our destiny to die: The effects of mortality salience and culture-priming on fatalism and karma belief. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2013; 48:818-28. [DOI: 10.1080/00207594.2012.678363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Tam KP. Existential motive underlying cosmetic surgery: A terror management analysis. JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/jasp.12059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kim-Pong Tam
- Division of Social Science; Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
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Giannakakis AE, Fritsche I. Social Identities, Group Norms, and Threat: On the Malleability of Ingroup Bias. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN 2010; 37:82-93. [DOI: 10.1177/0146167210386120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Ingroup bias is one of the most basic intergroup phenomena and has been consistently demonstrated to be increased under conditions of existential threat. In the present research the authors question the omnipresence of ingroup bias under threat and test the assumptions that these effects depend on the content of social identity and group norm salient in a situation. In the first two studies cross-categorization and recategorization manipulations eliminated and even reversed mortality salience effects on bias in relations between English and Scottish students (Study 1) as well as English and French people (Study 2). In the third study the specific normative content of a given social identity (collectivism vs. individualism) was shown to moderate mortality salience effects on ingroup bias. The results of these studies suggest a social identity perspective on terror management processes.
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Landau MJ, Sullivan D, King LA. Terror Management and Personality: Variations in the Psychological Defense Against the Awareness of Mortality. SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY COMPASS 2010. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00305.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Kashima ES. Culture and Terror Management: What is “Culture” in Cultural Psychology and Terror Management Theory? SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY COMPASS 2010. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2009.00248.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Burke BL, Martens A, Faucher EH. Two decades of terror management theory: a meta-analysis of mortality salience research. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY REVIEW 2010; 14:155-95. [PMID: 20097885 DOI: 10.1177/1088868309352321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 450] [Impact Index Per Article: 32.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
A meta-analysis was conducted on empirical trials investigating the mortality salience (MS) hypothesis of terror management theory (TMT). TMT postulates that investment in cultural worldviews and self-esteem serves to buffer the potential for death anxiety; the MS hypothesis states that, as a consequence, accessibility of death-related thought (MS) should instigate increased worldview and self-esteem defense and striving. Overall, 164 articles with 277 experiments were included. MS yielded moderate effects (r = .35) on a range of worldview- and self-esteem-related dependent variables (DVs), with effects increased for experiments using (a) American participants, (b) college students, (c) a longer delay between MS and the DV, and (d) people-related attitudes as the DV. Gender and self-esteem may moderate MS effects differently than previously thought. Results are compared to other reviews and examined with regard to alternative explanations of TMT. Finally, suggestions for future research are offered.
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Abstract
The mortality salience hypothesis of terror management theory was tested in a predominantly Muslim country. In Study 1a, private university students primed with thoughts of death reported more negative evaluations of a paragraph arguing state universities’ superiority to private ones, compared to a control condition in which “death” was replaced by “an important exam.” Study 1b conceptually replicated this finding at a state university. Study 2 found that MS participants wanted their home country to have stronger relations with Turkmenistan and weaker relations with England and Greece. Results were discussed with reference to university and national identity, and implications for future research were noted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doğan Kökdemir
- Department of Psychology, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Zuhal Yeniçeri
- Department of Psychology, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey
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