Mortality management and climate action: A review and reference for using Terror Management Theory methods in interdisciplinary environmental research

Abstract

Global climate change awareness is increasing, but efforts to convey information can trigger undesirable behaviors, including denial, skepticism, and increased resource consumption. It is therefore essential to more fully investigate social-psychological responses to climate information and messaging if we are to prompt, support, and sustain pro-environmental behaviors. Yet consideration of these responses is typically absent from interdisciplinary environmental study designs. Of specific relevance is research using social psychology's Terror Management Theory (TMT) showing that people's efforts to repress mortality salience (MS) or awareness significantly influence their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Research on MS's influence on climate change beliefs is progressing but, to date, a systematic scoping review of the literature has been unavailable. Here, we provide such a review. We propose that TMT insights and methods should be better integrated into research designs to guide climate communications and to generate the comprehensive cultural and behavioral changes needed to address societies' climate problems. We introduce a methodological framework for interdisciplinary researchers to incorporate TMT into their research designs and to help practitioners anticipate how their mortality-laden messaging could trigger unintentional social-psychological responses that degrade climate communication strategies.

The Effects of Communicating Climate Change Threat: Mobilizing Anger and Authoritarian Affect Displacement

“…Our experiment found evidence that exposure to climate change threat results in increased levels of authoritarian attitudes among individuals with authoritarian predispositions and in decreased levels of authoritarian attitudes (increased social liberalism) among individuals with libertarian predispositions. This is consistent with the predictions made by the authoritarian dynamic theory developed by Stenner (2005) and suggests that when threatened with the immediate and local consequences of climate change, individuals become more resolute in their attitudinal tendencies (cf., Smith et al 2022). This dynamic leads to greater polarization in attitudes.…”

Szembenézni a végességgel – Haláltudatosság és fenntarthatósági átmenetek

“…Míg az elmúlás emlékeztetők mindannyiunkban szorongást váltanak ki, ennek a szorongásnak a kezelése másképp történik a rettegéskezelési hurokban (3a) és az önmeghaladási hurokban (3b). A terrorkezelési hurok világnézeti védekezést és az önértékelés növelésére irányuló cselekedeteket indukál (Smith et al, 2022). Az előbbi megerősíti az egyén aktuális identitásfelfogását és ösztönzi a csoporton kívüli antagonizmust, míg az utóbbimivel az önbecsülés jelenleg dominánsan az anyagi státuszszimbólumoktól függ -a fogyasztói kultúrát erősíti.…”

Dead in the water: Mortality messaging in water crisis communication and implications for pro‐environmental outcomes

“…In future research, it would be useful to explore water interventions in explicitly differing environmental and cultural contexts. are open for investigation (Smith et al, 2022). It would also be beneficial to extend our research by empirically testing threatening water and/or other environmental communications' influence on decisionmaking processes.…”

“…However, these threatening messages can have unintended consequences. Beyond legitimate debates on fear‐based messaging ethics, communicating climate change in threatening ways has been shown to evoke audiences' existential mortality anxieties (Cote & Wolfe, 2018; Fritsche et al, 2010; Fritsche & Häfner, 2012; Ma & Hmielowski, 2021; Smith et al, 2022; Uhl et al, 2018; Wolfe & Tubi, 2019). Again, threatening messages in water communications have not previously been explored explicitly but have been included in some climate communication studies (Cote & Wolfe, 2018; Fritsche et al, 2012; Mann & Wolfe, 2016; Pyszczynski et al, 2012; Uhl et al, 2018).…”

“…Climate change has been empirically tested and shown to be a mortality reminder in TMT studies (Barth et al, 2018; Fritsche & Häfner, 2012; Pyszczynski et al, 2012; Uhl et al, 2018). Specific findings include the following: MS increases following natural disasters (Atalay & Meloy, 2020); climate change threat increased ingroup norms (Barth et al, 2018); MS led to increased resource consumption (Kasser & Sheldon, 2000); wilderness activates death‐thoughts (Koole & Van Den Berg, 2005); MS influenced environmental concern (Vess & Arndt, 2008)—see Smith et al, 2022 for a review. Water has not yet been established as a mortality reminder, which represents a significant opportunity.…”