The theory proposes that people strive to sustain the belief they are significant contributors to a meaningful universe to minimize the potential for terror engendered by their awareness of their own mortality.
Definition: Terror Management Theory suggests that large groups, and even entire societies, may make decisions, or put them off, primarily to gain comfort from avoiding thoughts of death or reassurance that their ideas will live on after they are gone. According to it, death anxiety drives people to adopt worldviews that protect their self-esteem, worthiness, and sustainability and allow them to believe that. They play an important role in a meaningful world. Some of these views lead to troubling actions.
How does terror management theory relate to out self-esteem?
On the basis of the terror management theory proposition that self-esteem provides protection against concerns about mortality, it was hypothesized that self-esteem would reduce the worldview defense produced by mortality salience (MS).
Anxiety Buffer Hypothesis
High self esteem, derived from upholding cultural standards, shields individuals from experiencing (death) anxiety.
Mortality Salience Hypothesis
When people are reminded of death, they will use various terror management mechanisms to manage death thoughts.
If culture is vital to ward of death anxiety, then people should defend worldviews after mortality salience (i.e, ecilicit worldview defence)
Worldview defence can either invole a) criticising other's disparate worldviews b) praising others who uphold your worldviey
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