Does peace have a prayer? The effect of mortality salience, compassionate values, and religious fundamentalism on hostility toward out-groups

Rothschild, Zachary K.; Abdollahi, Abdolhossein; Pyszczynski, Tom

doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2009.05.016

Cited by 138 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

132

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…However, this type of effect was not observed when new laïcité was salient, and new laïcité was related, according to previous research, to less tolerance in intergroup relations. Thus, our results are consistent previous laboratory experiments (e.g., Gailliot et al 2008;Jonas et al, 2008;Motyl et al, 2011;Rothschild et al 2009) that have used the priming of reminders of attacks (or of death reminders) and shown that priming cultural values can reverse the traditional negative aggression-enhancing effects of mortality salience. Nevertheless, all of these previous studies are laboratory experiments conducted in non-life threatening conditions.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Although there are still relatively few studies, findings suggest that reminding individuals of some core aspects of their worldviews can help them cope with the threat of death (see Greenberg et al, 1992;Gailliot et al 2008;Jonas et al, 2008;Rothschild, Abdollahi, & Pyszczynski, 2009). Motyl et al (2011) reported that priming a perception of a common humanity attenuated an increase in anti-Arab prejudice and hostility toward immigration among Americans reminded of death.…”

Section: Coping With Terrorism: Terror Management Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Psychological Effects of Terrorism are Moderated by Cultural Worldviews [Les Effets Psychologiques du Terrorisme sont Modérés par les Normes Culturelles]

Nugier

Roebroeck

Anier

et al. 2016

rips

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Terrorism cannot be easily studied experimentally for obvious reasons. We report the results of a laboratory study (N = 149) testing the effect of cultural worldviews on feelings of threat and hostility toward Muslims in France that include in the design the deadly terrorist attack of January 7 th 2015 in Paris as a naturally occurring independent variable. The results replicate past research by showing that in a natural context, people felt more threatened and more hostile toward Muslims after the terrorist attack than before. However, the reverse occurred in an experimental condition that made the French cultural worldview of colorblind equality salient: People felt less threatened and less hostile after the terrorist attack than before. These results provide, for the first time in the context of a real terrorist attack, support for Terror Management Theory's proposal that cultural worldviews are an effective buffer against terror.Keywords: Terrorism; threat; cultural worldview; colorblind equality; ingroup bias; terror management theory; laboratory Il n'est pas aisé d'étudier les effets du terrorisme expérimentalement pour des raisons évidentes. Nous rapportons les résultats d'une étude de laboratoire (N = 149) testant les effets des normes culturelles sur les sentiments de menace et l'hostilité envers les Musulmans en France qui inclue, dans son plan expérimental, la présence des attentats mortels du 7 Janvier 2015 en tant que variable indépendante naturelle. Les résultats de notre étude répliquent les résultats des recherches passées en montrant que les participants se sentaient plus menacés et ressentaient plus d'hostilité envers les Musulmans après les attentats qu'avant. Cependant, lorsque la norme culturelle de l'égalité citoyenne était rendue saillante, les participants se sentaient moins menacés et ressentaient moins d'hostilité envers les Musulmans après les attentats qu'avant. Ces résultats fournissent, pour la première fois dans un contexte réel d'attaque terroriste, un soutien au postulat avancé par la Théorie de la Gestion de la Terreur selon lequel les normes culturelles peuvent servir de bouclier psychologique face à la terreur.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Coping With Terrorism: Terror Management Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Psychological Effects of Terrorism are Moderated by Cultural Worldviews [Les Effets Psychologiques du Terrorisme sont Modérés par les Normes Culturelles]

Nugier

Roebroeck

Anier

et al. 2016

rips

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Along with the present findings of a conflict-reducing effect of focus on SHE, Rothschild et al (2009) found that fundamentalist Christians and Muslims become less supportive of violent actions against one another when a reminder of death is combined with priming the compassionate teachings from their religious texts. In a related vein, Motyl, Hart, and Pyszczynski (2009) i Separate 2 x 2 ANOVAs were conducted on the positive and negative affect subscales of the Positive and Negative Affect Scale.…”

Section: Shared Experiences and Defensiveness 17supporting

confidence: 80%

Subtle priming of shared human experiences eliminates threat-induced negativity toward Arabs, immigrants, and peace-making

Motyl

Hart

Pyszczynski

et al. 2011

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many studies demonstrate that mortality salience can increase negativity toward outgroups but few have examined variables that mitigate this effect. The present research examined whether subtly priming people to think of human experiences shared by people from diverse cultures increases perceived similarity of members of different groups, which then reduces MS-induced negativity toward outgroups. In Study 1, exposure to pictures of people from diverse cultures engaged in common human activities non-significantly reversed the effect of MS on implicit anti-Arab prejudice. In Study 2, thinking about similarities between one's own favorite childhood memories and those of people from other countries eliminated MS-induced explicit negative attitudes toward immigrants. In Study 3, thinking about similarities between one's own painful childhood memories and those of people from other countries eliminated the MS-induced reduction in support for peace-making. Mediation analyses suggest the effects were driven by perceived similarity of people across cultures. These findings suggest that priming widely shared human experiences can attenuate MS-induced intergroup conflict.

show abstract

“…More recently, TMT scholars have investigated instances in which mortality salience increases support for tolerant and seemingly progressive values, such as acceptance of immigrants (Weise, Arciszewksi, Verlhiac, Pyszczynski, & Greenberg, 2012), forgiveness of moral transgressors (Schimel, Wohl, & Williams, 2006;Williams, Schimel, Hayes, & Martens, 2009), rejection of extreme military force (Rothschild, Abdollahi, & Pyszczynski, 2009;Weise, Pyszczynski, Cox, et al, 2008), and approval of liberal opinions and candidates (Castano, Leidner, Bonacossa, et al, 2011;Vail, Arndt, Motyl, & Pyszczynski, 2009). However, the effect of mortality salience in virtually all of these cases is moderated by some other dispositional variable, such as right-wing authoritarianism, attachment security, empathy, or the situational priming of compassion or secure relationships.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Not All Ideologies are Created Equal: Epistemic, Existential, and Relational Needs Predict System-Justifying Attitudes

Hennes¹,

Nam²,

Stern³

et al. 2012

Social Cognition

193

229

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Whereas most social psychological perspectives assume that needs to manage uncertainty, existential anxiety, and social cohesion should motivate any form of ideological zeal, System Justification Theory predicts that these needs are positively associated with the endorsement of system-justifying beliefs, opinions, and values but negatively associated with the endorsement of system-challenging ideological outcomes. For the first time we test a full theoretical model in which system justification mediates the effects of individual differences in epistemic, existential, and relational needs on attitudes toward public policy issues and social movements. Specifically, we conducted a national survey of 182 americans and found that, as hypothesized, lower need for cognition, greater death anxiety, and a stronger desire to share reality each contributed significantly and independently to economic system justification, which, in turn, contributed to support for the Tea Party (a movement aimed at restoring america's "traditional values") and opposition to Occupy Wall Street (a movement seeking to reduce social and economic inequality and minimize corporate influence on government). economic system justification also mediated the effects of these needs on the endorsement of status quo positions with respect to health care, immigration, global climate change, and the "Ground Zero mosque." These findings suggest that epistemic, existential, and relational needs lead disproportionately to support for system-justifying, rather than system-challenging, policies and movements.[A]s a prominent ultra-conservative radio commentator observed recently: "There is nothing wrong with our American system. It is as good as it ever was, but we must

show abstract

Does peace have a prayer? The effect of mortality salience, compassionate values, and religious fundamentalism on hostility toward out-groups

Cited by 138 publications

References 30 publications

The Psychological Effects of Terrorism are Moderated by Cultural Worldviews [Les Effets Psychologiques du Terrorisme sont Modérés par les Normes Culturelles]

The Psychological Effects of Terrorism are Moderated by Cultural Worldviews [Les Effets Psychologiques du Terrorisme sont Modérés par les Normes Culturelles]

Subtle priming of shared human experiences eliminates threat-induced negativity toward Arabs, immigrants, and peace-making

Not All Ideologies are Created Equal: Epistemic, Existential, and Relational Needs Predict System-Justifying Attitudes

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About