An Appreciative View of the Brighter Side of Terror Management Processes

Kenneth E. Vail, III and Jacob Juhl
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Kenneth E. Vail, III: Department of Psychology, Cleveland State University, 2121 Euclid Ave. CB103, Cleveland, OH 44115, USA
Jacob Juhl: School of Psychology, University of Southampton, University Rd, Southampton SO17-1BJ, UK

Social Sciences, 2015, vol. 4, issue 4, 1-26

Abstract: Physical death is an inevitable part of life. From the perspective of terror management theory (TMT), people’s efforts to manage the awareness of death can sometimes have harmful social consequences. However, those negative consequences are merely one side of the existential coin. In considering the other side of the coin, the present article highlights the more beneficial trajectories of the terror management process. For example, the awareness of mortality can motivate people to prioritize their physical health; uphold prosocial values; build loving relationships and peaceful, charitable communities; and foster open-mindedness. Further, the article explores the possible balance between defense and growth motivations, including the motivations toward integrative self-expansion, creativity, and well-being. And finally, we tentatively consider the potential positive impacts of direct confrontations with mortality on terror management processes. In sum, the present analysis suggests that although death awareness can sometimes produce some harmful outcomes, at least under certain conditions it can also motivate attitudes and behaviors that have positive personal and social consequences.

Keywords: terror management theory; mortality salience; defense; positive psychology; growth; motivation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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