Critically Evaluating Terror Management Theory (TMT) in Psychology

Terror Management Theory (TMT)

• Proposed by Solomon et al. (1991) to explain the human need for self-esteem
• Self-esteem acts as a buffer against death anxiety
• Key aspects:
  • Humans' intellectual abilities lead to awareness of vulnerability and inevitable death, causing anxiety
  • Cultural worldviews provide a sense of meaning and order, reducing anxiety
  • Self-esteem develops in early childhood through interactions with parents
• Research supporting TMT:
  • Greenberg's study: increasing self-esteem reduces anxiety and defensiveness in response to threatening stimuli
  • Mortality salience (MS) increases the need for faith in one's worldview
• Criticisms of TMT:
  • Fear of death may not be a universal motivating force
  • Alternative explanations for MS effects, such as motives for uncertainty reduction, meaning, and belonging
  • MS can lead to opposing effects

Stigma and Self-Esteem

• Stigma: any characteristic that marks a person for social devaluation
• Consequences of stigma:
  • Negative experiences, including harmful comments, exclusion, and abuse
  • Anger, anxiety, low self-esteem, stress, and shame
• Coping strategies:
  • Restricting comparisons to within-group members
  • Disengaging from dimensions
  • Attributing negative outcomes to prejudice
  • Group identification as a source of support and protection

Realistic Conflict Theory (RCT)

• Defined by Campbell: peoples' attitudes towards ingroup and outgroup members reflect the objective interests of the ingroup
• Key assumptions:
  • Coinciding interests lead to harmonious relations
  • Conflicting interests lead to hostile relations
• Evidence supporting RCT:
  • Explains various conflicts, such as between men and women, Palestinians and Israelis, and racial groups
  • Economic competition linked to intergroup violence
• Criticisms and limitations:
  • Methodological issues with Sherif's studies
  • Oversimplification of intergroup conflict causes
  • Assumption of conflict as a zero-sum game

Contact Hypothesis

• Proposed by Allport (1954): intergroup conflict can be reduced by bringing groups into contact under certain conditions
• Conditions:
  • Equal status
  • Common goals
  • Intergroup cooperation
  • Support of authorities
  • Acquaintance or friendship potential
• Evidence supporting the Contact Hypothesis:
  • Early evidence: desegregation of the merchant marine in 1948
  • Studies on various groups, including Chinese students, German and Turkish school children, and stigmatized groups
  • Meta-analysis: highly significant effect size across 714 independent samples
• Criticisms and limitations:
  • Assumption that contact reduces prejudice through reduced ignorance
  • Alternative explanations, such as reduced anxiety and increased empathy
  • Generalization of effects and typicality of outgroup members

Genocide and the Holocaust

• Genocide: an attempt to exterminate a group by creating conditions that lead to the group's destruction
• Mass killing: killing group members without the intention to eliminate the whole group
• Factors contributing to genocide:
  • Difficult life conditions
  • Certain cultural-societal characteristics
  • Continuum of destruction
• Psychological consequences:
  • Threat to self-concept
  • Disorganization and anxiety
• Resolving the problem of genocide:
  • Devaluing the outgroup to enhance self-esteem
  • Turning against others to feel in control
  • Blaming the outgroup for threatening conditions

Social Identity Theory (SIT)

• Developed by Tajfel and Turner to explain intergroup behavior and discrimination
• Key assumptions and processes:
  • Social categorization to simplify the social world
  • Formation of a social identity or social self
  • Inherent need to evaluate the self positively
  • Comparisons with outgroups to enhance self-esteem
• Evidence supporting SIT:
  • Studies on social identity and intergroup discrimination
• Criticisms and limitations:
  • Complexity of self-esteem and intergroup discrimination
  • Alternative strategies for self-esteem enhancement
  • Context-dependent predictions
• Self-esteem enhancement strategies:
  • Social mobility
  • Social change
  • Social creativity
  • Social competition