Pyszczynski et al. (2006). Mortality salience, martyrdom, and military might: The great satan versus the axis of evil - Article summary

The terror management theory states that people who would normally not condone violent acts on others can be motivated to support acts of aggression and sometimes take up arms themselves when their need for protection from existential fear is heightened and they are being confronted with an outgroup that challenges core aspects of their cultural worldview.

The potential of existential terror is controlled by maintaining faith in an internalized cultural worldview (1) and obtaining self-esteem by living up to the standards of value prescribed by that worldview (2). The faith in a worldview increases when others share one’s worldview. Other worldviews threaten this faith and this threat is defused by taking action against the other group or disparaging them.

Mortality salience leads people to conform more closely to the norms of their culture, punish violators of the norm more severely and react more negatively toward those with conflicting world views. Mortality salience increases worldview defence. Mortality salience increases the potential to experience anxiety and this potential motivates worldview defence.

It is possible that reminders of death increases the willingness of people to support violent action. It is possible that cultural worldviews provide protection from existential fears by providing a view of the world as orderly, predictable, meaningful and permanent. Mortality salience also increases people’s preference for well-structured information. Worldviews that enhance the perceived value of one’s group are likely to be appealing as buffers against existential anxiety.

The idea of one’s group being engaged in a heroic struggle against evil is a good mean of controlling death-related fear.

Alienation from the mainstream (1), feelings of humiliation for oneself and the group (2),  desire to avenge past and present grievances (3) and a desire to restore order morality to a world view (4) are important factors in inspiring terrorist violence and support for terrorist violence.

Thoughts of death appears to lead young people in the Middle East from a generally more preferred pacifist stance to a martyrdom stance which advocates suicide bombings. Mortality salience makes conservatives more likely to endorse extreme military action whereas this is not the case for liberals. Conservatives were more negative of liberals when mortality salience is high but liberals do not change their evaluation of conservatives when mortality salience is high.

The thoughts of death increases people’s readiness to support extreme violent solutions to global conflicts. Existential concerns about one’s mortality contribute to cultural, ethnic and religious conflicts.

It is possible that mortality salience effects occur because of a delayed increase in the accessibility of death-related thought and that worldview defences reduce this heightened accessibility back to baseline levels. The function of these defences is to reduce the potential for anxiety endangered by death-related thoughts close to consciousness.

Reminders of mortality do not amplify tendencies that exist under more neutral conditions but reminders of mortality lead people to gravitate towards conceptions of reality that provide security in one way or another. This can include affirming the dominant aspects of a worldview but can also include moving towards less dominant aspects of the worldview that are associated with superiority, structure and security. Pre-existing attitudes play an important role in determining how people will protect themselves from existential concerns. Reminders of death lead people to gravitate towards the worldview that is expected to provide the best protection at the time the protection is needed.

The rock type worldview refers to a worldview characterized by emphasis on the absolutes of good and evil. The primary negative emotion that is experienced when the worldview is threatened is anger towards that which is designated as evil. The hard place worldview refers to a worldview characterized by more flexibility and less security. It emphasises the complexity of right and wrong. The primary negative emotion that is experienced when the worldview is threatened is anxiety.

When thoughts of death are accessible, people with prior leanings towards this direction gravitate towards the rock type worldview.