Facing death together : understanding the consequences of mortality threats

In everyday life people are constantly reminded of the temporary nature of life. Newspapers, television, and the Internet offer a constant stream or death reminders, ranging from terrorist attacks to natural disasters. According to Terror Management Theory, people are able to cope with these threats - that would otherwise generate paralyzing fear - by affirming their cultural worldview and maintaining a high sense of self-esteem. In this dissertation extends previous research by emphasizing the role of groups in this terror managing process. In several experiments it is demonstrated that large groups may provide such a defensive function. People therefore affiliate with, and conform to groups more often when they are confronted with their mortality, and they vote more often for larger political parties. It is further shown that the need to be a part of a group is so basic that even abstract representations of groups offer a terror-managing function. Two main reasons for the attraction of groups in times of terror and threat are identified. Groups offer people information on how to act in threatening situations. In addition, people generally feel safer when they are part of a group. The last empirical chapter shows that people use more positive and negative stereotypes when they are reminded of their mortality. This indicates that, above all, people have the need to comprehend the world around them. Implications of the results for theory and practice are addressed in the discussion. Deze dissertatie is onderzocht naar aanleiding van de fraude gepleegd door sociaal-psycholoog Diederik Stapel. De Commissie Noort (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen) heeft daarbij vastgesteld dat in hoofdstuk 5 gebruik is gemaakt van frauduleuze data verstrekt door Stapel. De Commissie heeft geen aanwijzingen gevonden dat de auteur van de dissertatie doelbewust heeft meegewerkt aan datavervalsing. Zie voor meer informatie: https://www.commissielevelt.nl/. In everyday life people are constantly reminded of the temporary nature of life. Newspapers, television, and the Internet offer a constant stream or death reminders, ranging from terrorist attacks to natural disasters. According to Terror Management Theory, people are able to cope with these threats - that would otherwise generate paralyzing fear - by affirming their cultural worldview and maintaining a high sense of self-esteem. In this dissertation extends previous research by emphasizing the role of groups in this terror managing process. In several experiments it is demonstrated that large groups may provide such a defensive function. People therefore affiliate with, and conform to groups more often when they are confronted with their mortality, and they vote more often for larger political parties. It is further shown that the need to be a part of a group is so basic that even abstract representations of groups offer a terror-managing function. Two main reasons for the attraction of groups in times of terror and threat are identified. Groups offer people information on how to act in threatening situations. In addition, people generally feel safer when they are part of a group. The last empirical chapter shows that people use more positive and negative stereotypes when they are reminded of their mortality. This indicates that, above all, people have the need to comprehend the world around them. Implications of the results for theory and practice are addressed in the discussion. This dissertation has been examined in connection with the fraud committed by social psychologist Diederik Stapel. The Noort Committee (University of Groningen) found that in chapter 5 use has been made of fraudulent data provided by Stapel. The Committee has found no evidence that the author of the dissertation has deliberately contributed to data falsification. Please find more information on: https://www.commissielevelt.nl/.