TY - JOUR
T1 - A Terror Management Theory of Social Behavior
T2 - The Psychological Functions of Self-Esteem and Cultural Worldviews
AU - Solomon, Sheldon
AU - Greenberg, Jeff
AU - Pyszczynski, Tom
N1 - Funding Information:
Responsibility for this article is shared equally among the authors. Thanks to Jack Brehm, John Burling, Keith James, Donna Morganstern, Abram Rosenblatt, Catherine Wylie, Challenger Vought, and several anonymous reviewers for their contributions to this work. Versions of this theory were presented at the Society for Experimental Social Psychology meeting in October, 1984, the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association meeting in April, 1985, and the Second Annual Nags Head Conference on the Self in May, 1985. This work was partially supported by a Skidmore College Faculty Development Grant and a National Science Foundation Grant (BNS-8910876). Correspondence concerning this chapter should be addressed to Sheldon Solomon, Department of Psychology, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York 12866, or Jeff Greenberg, Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, 85721, or Tom Pyszczynski, Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80933-7 150.
PY - 1991/1/1
Y1 - 1991/1/1
N2 - This chapter deals with terror management theory that attempts to contribute to the understanding of social behavior by focusing on the essential being and circumstance of the human animal. The theory posits that all human motives are ultimately derived from a biologically based instinct for self-preservation. Relative equanimity in the face of these existential realities is possible through the creation and maintenance of culture, which serves to minimize the terror by providing a shared symbolic context that imbues the universe with order, meaning, stability, and permanence. The theory provides a theoretical link between superficially unrelated substantive areas, and focuses on one particular motive that makes it distinctly human and, unfortunately, distinctly destructive. Theories serve a variety of equally important functions, all of which are oriented towards improving the ability to think about and understand the subject matter of discipline. The chapter discusses the dual-component cultural anxiety buffer: worldview and self-esteem, the development and functioning of the cultural anxiety buffer for the individual, and a terror management analysis of social behavior in great detail.
AB - This chapter deals with terror management theory that attempts to contribute to the understanding of social behavior by focusing on the essential being and circumstance of the human animal. The theory posits that all human motives are ultimately derived from a biologically based instinct for self-preservation. Relative equanimity in the face of these existential realities is possible through the creation and maintenance of culture, which serves to minimize the terror by providing a shared symbolic context that imbues the universe with order, meaning, stability, and permanence. The theory provides a theoretical link between superficially unrelated substantive areas, and focuses on one particular motive that makes it distinctly human and, unfortunately, distinctly destructive. Theories serve a variety of equally important functions, all of which are oriented towards improving the ability to think about and understand the subject matter of discipline. The chapter discusses the dual-component cultural anxiety buffer: worldview and self-esteem, the development and functioning of the cultural anxiety buffer for the individual, and a terror management analysis of social behavior in great detail.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60328-7
DO - 10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60328-7
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:77957025376
SN - 0065-2601
VL - 24
SP - 93
EP - 159
JO - Advances in Experimental Social Psychology
JF - Advances in Experimental Social Psychology
IS - C
ER -