Psychology: Terror Management Theory & Self-Esteem

Terror Management Theory (TMT)

• Proposed by Solomon et al. (1991) to explain the human need for self-esteem
• Self-esteem protects individuals from anxiety
• Key aspects of TMT:
  • Extensive research links self-esteem to various psychological and behavioral outcomes
  • Self-esteem is related to self-serving biases and social comparisons
• According to Becker, humans' intellectual abilities lead to awareness of vulnerability and inevitable death, causing potential for debilitating anxiety
• To manage this, people adopt cultural worldviews that provide a sense of meaning and order
• Self-esteem serves as a buffer against death anxiety
• TMT proposes that the link between self-esteem and protection from anxiety 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
• Study: mortality salience (MS) increases the need for faith in one's worldview

Criticisms of TMT

• People have questioned whether fear of death is a universal motivating force
• Alternate explanations for MS effects, such as motives for uncertainty reduction, meaning, and belonging
• MS can lead to opposing effects

Stigma and Well-being

• Stigma: any characteristic that marks a person for social devaluation
• Consequences of stigma:
  • Negative experiences, including harmful comments, exclusion, verbal and physical 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
• The Social Cure:
  • Group identification can be a source of support
  • Linked to reduced depression, increased control, resilience, better health, and improved well-being

Realistic Conflict Theory (RCT)

• Defined by Campbell: peoples' attitudes towards ingroup and outgroup members reflect the objective interests of the ingroup
• RCT assumes:
  • If interests coincide, relations between groups will be relatively harmonious
  • If there is conflict, relations between groups will become hostile
• Evidence supporting RCT:
  • Explains various conflicts, such as those between men and women, Palestinians and Israelis, Catholics and Protestants, and racial groups
  • Economic competition linked to intergroup violence
• Criticisms and limitations:
  • Methodological issues with Sherif's studies
  • RCT may oversimplify causes of intergroup conflict
  • Assumption that conflict is always perceived as a zero-sum game

The 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 of white housewives in desegregated housing projects
  • Recent evidence from various groups
  • Meta-analysis by Pettigrew & Tropp (2006)
• Criticisms and limitations:
  • Assumption that contact reduces prejudice through reduced ignorance
  • Alternative explanations, such as reduced anxiety and increased empathy
  • Generalization of effects
  • Typicality of outgroup members in contact situations

Genocide and the Holocaust

• Genocide: 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
• Holocaust: 6 million Jews killed, 5 million others killed
• Factors contributing to genocide:
  • Difficult life conditions
  • Certain cultural-societal characteristics
  • Continuum of destruction
• Difficult life conditions can lead to:
  • Threat to self-concept
  • Anxiety and disorganization
• Cultural-societal characteristics:
  • Cultural devaluation of a subgroup
  • Strong respect for authority
  • Ideology
  • Social organization
  • History of aggression
• Continuum of destruction:
  • Dealing with problems by turning against an outgroup
  • Evolution of destruction
  • Learning by participation
• Role of bystanders:
  • Can change as a result of their action
  • Distance themselves from the victim
  • Can benefit from the victim's fate
• Two types of bystanders:
  • Internal bystanders
  • External bystanders

Social Identity Theory (SIT)

• Developed by Tajfel and Turner to explain intergroup behavior and discrimination
• Key assumptions and processes:
  • Social categorization
  • Social identity or social self
  • Need to evaluate the self positively
  • Comparisons with relevant outgroups
• Evidence supporting SIT:
  • Studies by Hunter et al. and others
• Criticisms and limitations:
  • Relationship between self-esteem and intergroup discrimination is more complex
  • SIT does not always predict intergroup discrimination
  • Contextual factors can influence the choice of self-esteem enhancement strategies
• Self-esteem enhancement strategies:
  • Social mobility
  • Social change
  • Social creativity
  • Social competition