Mortality Salience, Martyrdom, and Military Might: The Great Satan Versus the Axis of Evil
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
10.1177/0146167205282157
PERSONALITY
Pyszczynski et al.AND
/ DEATH
SOCIAL
VIOLENT
PSYCHOLOGY
SOLUTIONS
BULLETIN ARTICLE
Mortality Salience, Martyrdom, and Military Might:
The Great Satan Versus the Axis of Evil
Tom Pyszczynski
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Abdolhossein Abdollahi
Zarand Islamic Azad University, Iran and Kerman Shahid Bahonar University, Iran
Sheldon Solomon
Skidmore College
Jeff Greenberg
University of Arizona
Florette Cohen
Rutgers University
David Weise
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Study 1 investigated the effect of mortality salience on support ghanistan and Iraq, rhetoric from all sides of this conflict
for martyrdom attacks among Iranian college students. Partici- continues to escalate. From the perspective of terror
pants were randomly assigned to answer questions about either management theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, &
their own death or an aversive topic unrelated to death and then Solomon, 1986), people who would not normally con-
evaluated materials from fellow students who either supported or done violent attacks on others can be motivated to sup-
opposed martyrdom attacks against the United States. Whereas port acts of aggression and sometimes even take up arms
control participants preferred the student who opposed martyr- themselves when their need for protection from existen-
dom, participants reminded of death preferred the student who tial fear is heightened and they are confronted with an
supported martyrdom and indicated they were more likely to con- outgroup that explicitly or implicitly challenges core as-
sider such activities themselves. Study 2 investigated the effect of pects of their cultural worldview. Although Pyszczynski,
mortality salience on American college students’ support for Solomon, and Greenberg (2003) recently applied this
extreme military interventions by American forces that could kill analysis to the ongoing strife in the Middle East, to date
thousands of civilians. Mortality salience increased support for there are no data documenting the role of terror man-
such measures among politically conservative but not politically agement processes in fueling hostile attitudes on either
liberal students. The roles of existential fear, cultural world- side of this conflict. If the TMT analysis of the motiva-
views, and construing one’s nation as pursing a heroic battle tional underpinnings of this conflict is sound, then re-
against evil in advocacy of violence were discussed. minders of death should increase the willingness of peo-
ple in both the United States and parts of the Islamic
world to support violent action against each other. The
Keywords: terrorism; war; military intervention; terror management; two experiments reported here investigated the effect of
mortality salience mortality salience on support for martyrdom attacks
against Americans among young Iranians and on sup-
The specter of continuing violence in the Middle East port for extreme military interventions in the Middle
East among young Americans.
is one of the most vexing problems facing humankind in
the opening decade of the 21st century. Against the back-
PSPB, Vol. 32 No. 4, April 2006 525-537
drop of the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center DOI: 10.1177/0146167205282157
(WTC) and Pentagon and the U.S. military actions in Af- © 2006 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.
525526 PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN
Terror Management Theory dead (Greenberg et al., 1997). Parallel comparison con-
ditions in which participants are induced to think about
TMT posits that the uniquely human awareness of the
failure, embarrassment, physical pain, uncertainty, so-
inevitability and potential finality of death creates the
cial exclusion, paralysis, or meaninglessness do not pro-
potential for existential terror, which is controlled by (a)
duce these results, suggesting that MS effects are specific
maintaining faith in an internalized cultural worldview
to thoughts of death (e.g., Baldwin & Wesley, 1996;
and (b) obtaining self-esteem by living up to the stan-
Greenberg et al., 1995; Landau, Johns, et al., 2004).
dards of value prescribed by that worldview. Because
Other research has provided a detailed account of
one’s cultural worldview is a symbolic psychological con-
the conscious and nonconscious cognitive processes
struction and because people are aware that there are
through which thoughts of death exert their effects on
many different worldviews that provide alternative ways
judgments and other behavior (Pyszczynski, Greenberg,
of construing reality, confidence in one’s own worldview,
& Solomon, 1999). This work shows that stimuli that lead
and thus the protection from existential anxiety that it
to heightened death thought accessibility reliably pro-
provides, depends on consensual validation from others.
duce worldview defense and that worldview defense ef-
When others share one’s worldview, faith in it increases,
fectively reduces death thought accessibility to baseline
making it more effective as a buffer against existential
levels. Although MS inductions typically do not arouse
anxiety. However, the mere existence of people with dif-
negative affect (e.g., Rosenblatt, Greenberg, Solomon,
ferent worldviews undermines this much-needed con-
Pyszczynski, & Lyon, 1989), recent research indicates
sensus, thereby threatening faith in the absolute validity
that they increase the potential to experience anxiety
of one’s own worldview and reducing its anxiety-
and that it is this increased potential that motivates
buffering effectiveness. People attempt to defuse the
worldview defense (Greenberg et al., 2003). These stud-
threat posed by alternative worldviews by disparaging
ies provide converging support for the TMT proposition
them and those who subscribe to them, attempting to
that cultural worldviews and self-esteem provide protec-
convert their adherents to one’s own worldview, or sim-
tion against the problem of death by reducing the poten-
ply killing them, thus eliminating the threat to consen-
tial for anxiety engendered by the heightened accessi-
sus and asserting the superiority of one’s own worldview.
To date, more 250 experiments conducted in 14 dif- bility of death-related thoughts.
ferent countries have provided support for TMT hy- Do Some Worldviews Provide Better
potheses (for reviews, see Greenberg, Solomon, & Protection Than Others?
Pyszczynski, 1997; Pyszczynski et al., 2003). Of particular
relevance to present concerns, research has shown that What is it about cultural worldviews that provide pro-
reminders of death (mortality salience, MS) lead people to tection from existential fear? This is a complex question
conform more closely to the norms of their culture, pun- in that beliefs and values probably provide protection in
ish violators of those norms more severely, and react a variety of ways. The original presentation of TMT ar-
more negatively toward those whose worldviews conflict gued that worldviews provide protection by “providing a
with one’s own. The most common finding has been that view of the world as orderly, predictable, meaningful,
MS increases worldview defense. For example, studies of and permanent” (Greenberg et al., 1986, p. 198). Consis-
American college students have shown that MS engen- tent with this view, Landau, Johns, et al. (2004) demon-
ders more negative evaluations of those who criticize the strated that MS increases people’s preference for well-
United States and greater aggression toward those with structured information and encourages closure upon
divergent political orientations (Greenberg et al., 1997). simple solutions to inferential problems, particularly
Similarly, following MS, German college students ex- for people high in personal need for structure. More
hibit more negative evaluations of and physical distanc- recently, a complementary set of studies (Landau,
ing from foreigners (Ochsmann & Mathey, 1994), Israeli Greenberg, Solomon, Pyszczynski, & Martens, 2005)
children have more negative impressions of Russian Jew- showed that MS reduces liking for art that seems to lack
ish immigrants (Florian & Mikulincer, 1998), and Japa- clear structure or meaning. This work suggests that all
nese participants are more derogatory toward those who else being equal, worldviews that offer a clear vision of an
criticize Japan (Heine, Harihara, & Niiya, 2002). orderly meaningful world are likely to be particularly
Findings supporting TMT hypotheses have been ob- appealing when thoughts of mortality are activated.
tained using a variety of operationalizations of MS, in- In addition, in accord with TMT, research has shown
cluding the typical open-ended questions employed in that ideologies depicting one’s group as special and
the present research, death anxiety questionnaires, re- uniquely valuable are especially effective for terror man-
quests to write a single sentence about death, gory acci- agement purposes. One recent study showed that MS
dent footage, proximity to funeral homes and cemeter- increased preference for a hypothetical charismatic
ies, and subliminal presentations of the words death and gubernatorial candidate who promoted a grand visionPyszczynski et al. / DEATH VIOLENT SOLUTIONS 527
emphasizing the superiority of the ingroup but not for factors other than his emphasis on the heroic triumph
candidates who emphasized accomplishing tasks or egal- over evil. The present research was designed to provide
itarian relationships (Cohen, Solomon, Maxfield, additional evidence regarding the appeal of ideologies
Pyszczynski, & Greenberg, 2004). These findings suggest that focus on a clash between one’s own people and evil
that worldviews that enhance the perceived value of forces, particularly with regard to the role that terror
one’s group are likely to be especially appealing as buf- management processes might be playing in the current
fers against existential anxiety. “clash of civilizations” (Huntington, 1996) occurring be-
Ernest Becker (1975), Eric Fromm (1969), Otto Rank tween parts of the Middle East and Western world.
(1958), and Robert J. Lifton (1999) argued that world- Specifically, we examined the effect of death-related
views that depict one’s group as engaged in a heroic concerns on support for extremist solutions to the ongo-
struggle against evil may be particularly effective for en- ing conflict between the United States and some seg-
hancing the meaningfulness of one’s worldview and the ments of the Islamic world. Whereas George W. Bush has
value of one’s group and therefore especially useful for designated some nations in this region as spokes in an
warding off death-related fear. Thus, when death “axis of evil” and supporters of martyrdom attacks as
thought accessibility is heightened, leaders who help “evil-doers,” in some parts of the Middle East, the United
people feel good about themselves by portraying their States is referred to as the “Great Satan” and an “enemy
groups as undertaking a righteous mission to obliterate of Allah.” Some Islamic fundamentalist groups, such as
evil might be particularly alluring. In support of this Al Qaeda, take this view to the extreme, advocating mar-
proposition, four recent studies demonstrated that tyrdom in the form of suicide bombings against the
MS increased American college students’ support for United States and its allies as the highest form of heroism
George W. Bush, a leader who has portrayed the United and service to Allah and their culture. In a parallel man-
States as engaged in a mission to vanquish evil around ner, some Americans support preemptive war against
the globe (Landau, Solomon, et al., 2004). Study 1 countries that might threaten our security in the future
showed that relative to a neutral control condition, MS and the use of “shock and awe-inspiring” military force
increased agreement with an essay praising Bush and his that could kill thousands of innocent civilians as part of
policies in Iraq. Study 2 established that subliminal pre- the “war on terror.” If such attitudes serve a terror man-
sentation of the number 911 or the letters WTC, both agement function, then reminders of death should in-
closely associated with the terrorist attacks, increased the crease support for martyrdom attacks against Americans
accessibility of death-related thoughts relative to a neu- among persons in Middle Eastern cultures and increase
tral control condition. Study 3 demonstrated that rela- Americans’ support for extreme military action against
tive to thinking about an upcoming exam, both MS those who oppose the United States in the Middle East.
and reminders of the September 11 terrorist attacks in-
creased agreement with the pro–Bush essay. Finally, STUDY 1: TMT AND SUPPORT FOR
Study 4 showed that although American college students MARTYRDOM ATTACKS AGAINST AMERICANS
in a control condition focused on thoughts of intense Study 1 examined the effect of MS on support for mar-
pain preferred Democratic presidential nominee John tyrdom attacks against the United States among young
Kerry over President Bush, this preference was com- adults in a Middle Eastern country. To this end, we con-
pletely reversed after exposure to MS. Indeed, Cohen, ducted one of the first TMT studies with an Islamic popu-
Ogilvie, Solomon, Greenberg, and Pyszczynski (in press) lation in Iran, a country with a long and ongoing history
found that although registered voters in a control con- of conflict with the United States. Whereas the majority
dition preferred Kerry by a 4 to 1 margin, in an MS condi- of TMT research has been conducted in North America,
tion, Bush was preferred by a 2.5 to 1 ratio. Europe, and Israel, and some studies have been con-
This reversal of preference in the MS condition re- ducted in Eastern Asia and Australia, only a very few as
flects a departure from most previous TMT research in yet unpublished studies have been conducted in the pre-
that it suggests that heightened death concerns can lead dominantly Islamic countries of the Middle East. Given
people to shift from the worldviews with which they af- that Muslims make up approximately 18% of the world’s
filiate under less threatening conditions, or at least shift population and that Islam is the world’s fastest growing
toward emphasizing different elements of their overall religion (Esposito, 2000), this is a serious gap in the TMT
worldview. literature. In addition to the primary goal of addressing
These findings are consistent with the notion that MS the important global issue of understanding psychologi-
increases the appeal of worldviews in which one’s own cal factors that increase support for martyrdom attacks,
group is portrayed as pursuing a heroic fight against evil. Study 1 was designed to provide information about the
However, President Bush differs from Kerry in a variety role of TMT processes in this understudied segment of
of ways, so the Bush findings could have resulted from the world’s population.528 PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN
Although there has been a tremendous amount of randomly assigned to MS or aversive thought control
scholarly discussion and informed speculation about conditions and then read and evaluated questionnaires
what leads people to support terrorist violence, very little supposedly completed by two fellow students at their
empirical research on this topic has been conducted. In- universities, one supporting and one opposing martyr-
deed, to our knowledge this is the first experimental in- dom attacks; thus, the design was a 2 × 2 mixed factorial.
vestigation of a psychological variable posited to have a
MATERIALS AND PROCEDURE
causal impact on such tendencies. Available evidence
from demographic and case studies shows that contrary Participants were tested individually; all verbal in-
to common stereotypes, suicide bombers tend to be psy- structions and materials were presented in Farsi. After
chologically well adjusted, well educated, and financially obtaining informed consent, participants were told that
well off compared to their countrymen. Based on inter- the study was an investigation of the effects of personality
views with members of Japan’s Aum Shinrikyo cult, on impression formation. They then completed a ques-
which was responsible for the 1995 nerve gas attack on a tionnaire containing filler items to sustain the cover
Tokyo subway, Lifton (1999) noted that the members’ story, followed by the MS manipulation (Rosenblatt
“familiar ordinariness” was one of their most disturbing et al., 1989) presented as a new personality measure. The
characteristics. Interviews with suicide bombers and MS induction consisted of two open-ended questions:
other terrorists suggest some similarity between the “Please, briefly describe the emotions that the thought
recruitment, commitment, and solidarity-producing of your own death arouses in you” and “Jot down, as spe-
strategies used by their organizations and those used by cifically as you can, what you think will happen to you as
other cults (e.g., Ignatieff, 1993). you physically die.” The dental pain control condition,
In Terror in the Name of God, Jessica Stern (2003) con- used in many previous MS studies, consisted of parallel
cluded from a series of in-depth interviews with a variety questions about experiencing dental pain. Participants
of religious terrorists from diverse groups (Christian, then completed the Positive and Negative Affect Scale
Muslim, Jewish, Hindu) that alienation from the main- (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) followed by a
stream, feelings of humiliation for both oneself and word search task to provide a delay and distraction
one’s people, a desire to avenge past and present griev- before obtaining the dependent measures.
ances, and most important, a desire to restore order and Participants were then told that the next part of the
morality to a world viewed as bereft of these qualities play study involved reading some questionnaires completed
major roles in inspiring terrorist violence and support by other students at their university and rating their im-
for it among those who do not directly participate in it. pressions of them. They were then given two question-
Similarly, Bruce Hoffman (1993) proposed that for reli- naires supposedly filled out by other students that
gious terrorists, “Violence [is] first and foremost a sacra- started with background information, followed by the
mental act or divine duty executed in direct response to critical items used to vary that person’s attitudes about
some theological demand or imperative” (p. 2). Stern’s martyrdom attacks. These materials were designed to be
and Hoffman’s ideas are thoroughly compatible with representative of commonly expressed views among this
TMT in that these terrorists seem to be strongly focused population. A pilot study with a separate sample showed
on heroically contributing to a triumph over what they that the materials were understandable and did not
perceive to be a great evil. Thus, we believe that TMT arouse suspicion.
provides an overarching theoretical framework for de- In the promartyrdom condition the “other student’s”
lineating at least one basic motive underlying efforts to responses to the critical items were as follows:
use extreme violence against those viewed as evil. Study 1
provided an initial test of the TMT analysis by examining • What do you feel to be the most pressing world issue?
the effect of reminders of death on support for martyr- Showing the world that deaths in the name of Allah will
dom missions against Americans. We hypothesized that bring an end to the imperialism practiced in the West.
MS would lead to more favorable evaluations of a “fellow • Do you have a life motto? One should treat all other true
student” who supported martyrdom attacks relative to believers as brothers; everyone else should be consid-
a student who opposed them and would also increase ered enemies of Allah.
interest in joining the martyrdom cause. • How do you perceive the role of the United States in the
Middle East? I believe the United States’ presence is
Method wrong. They are invading our holy land and threatening
our way of life.
PARTICIPANTS AND EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
• Are martyrdom attacks on the United States justified?
In Study 1, 40 undergraduates (14 women and 26 Yes. The United States represents the world power which
men; mean age = 22.46) at two universities in Iran were Allah wants us to destroy.Pyszczynski et al. / DEATH VIOLENT SOLUTIONS 529
8 7
7 6
6 5
5
Promartyrdom 4 Promartyrdom
4
Antimartyrdom 3 Antimartyrdom
3
2
2
1 1
0 0
Mortality Salient Control Mortality Salient Control
Figure 1 Evaluation of persons supporting and opposing martyrdom Figure 2 Willingness to consider joining pro- and antimartyrdom
attacks as a function of mortality salience. Higher scores in- causes as a function of mortality salience. Higher scores in-
dicate more positive evaluation of that person. dicate greater willingness to consider joining the cause.
In the antimartyrdom condition, the “other student” Results and Discussion
replied, Reliability analyses of the four items evaluating the
“other student” indicated high internal consistency, with
• What do you feel to be the most pressing world issue?
Cronbach’s alpha of .95 and .90 for the pro- and anti-
Convincing others in the world that Islam is a peaceful
religion and that Allah loves all men. The world must martyrdom conditions, respectively. Therefore, compos-
know that not all Muslims are motivated by the hatred ite measures of participants’ evaluations of the two
and misguided beliefs that have led to many needless “other students” were computed by taking the mean of
deaths in the name of Allah. the four questions. A 2 (MS vs. control) × 2 (pro- vs. anti-
• Do you have a life motto? One should treat other hu- martyrdom) ANOVA yielded a significant main effect for
mans with respect and care, no matter what racial, eth- MS, F(1, 38) = 19.86, p < 0001, and more important, a sig-
nic, or religious background. nificant MS × Martyrdom Attitude interaction, F(1, 38) =
• How do you perceive the role of the United States in the 66.04, p < .0001.1 Relevant means are in Figure 1. Pair-
Middle East? Although I believe the United States’ pres- wise comparisons revealed that although participants
ences is somewhat intrusive, they did remove a tyrannical
preferred the student who opposed martyrdom attacks
leader from power in hope of establishing a more demo-
over the one who supported martyrdom attacks in the
cratic system of government.
• Are martyrdom attacks on the United States justified? dental pain control condition, t(38) = 5.47, p < .0001, MS
No. Universally speaking, human life is too valuable to led to a dramatic reversal of this pattern such that after
be used as a means of producing change. being reminded of their mortality participants preferred
the student who supported martyrdom attacks over the
After reading each questionnaire (presented in coun- one who opposed them, t(38) = 6.02, p < .0001. Looked
terbalanced order), participants indicated their impres- at differently, MS led to significantly more favorable eval-
sions of the student by responding to the following ques- uations of the promartyrdom student, t(38) = 10.45, p <
tions on 9-point scales (1 = most negative response, 9 = most .0001, and a trend toward less favorable evaluations of
positive response): How much do you think you would like the antimartyrdom student, t(38) = 1.86, p =.071.
this person? How much do you agree with this person’s To get a more direct assessment of the effect of MS on
opinion? How intelligent do you believe this person to participants’ willingness to personally get involved in
be? and To what degree do you respect this person? To martyrdom attacks, we conducted a parallel ANOVA on
get a more direct assessment of participants’ support for their responses to the item that assessed their willingness
martyrdom attacks, the final item asked them to “Rate to consider joining their cause. This analysis revealed sig-
the degree to which you would consider joining their nificant main effects of MS, F(1, 38) = 33.85, p < .0001;
cause.” martyrdom attitude, F(1, 38) = 6.31, p < .02; and the pre-
After each session, participants were debriefed; none dicted MS × Martyrdom Attitude interaction, F(1, 38) =
showed any suspicions. 32.87, p < .0001. Relevant means are displayed in Figure530 PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN 2. Although dental pain control participants indicated buy themselves a burial shroud and visit it once in a greater interest in joining the antimartyrdom than the while, and for some it is a common practice to crawl promartyrdom cause, t(38) = 2.28, p < .05, MS partici- down into their future graves to pray. Indeed, many Mus- pants indicated greater interest in joining the pro-mar- lims in the Middle East report that they look forward to tyrdom cause than the anti-martyrdom cause, F(1, 38) = their death so they can join Allah in paradise. The pres- 5.83, p < .0001. Whereas MS increased interest in join- ent findings show that reminders of death increase cul- ing the promartyrdom cause, t(38) = 9.40, p < .0001, it tural allegiances even in cultures where death is openly had no effect on interest in joining the antimartyrdom celebrated; this adds to other recent findings indicating cause, t(38) < 1. that TMT applies to non–Western cultures with very To determine whether MS affected mood, we ran different ideologies regarding death (e.g., Halloran & separate ANOVAs on the subscales of the PANAS. As in Kashima, 2004; Heine et al., 2002). previous studies (Goldenberg, Pyszczynski, McCoy, Whereas Study 1 demonstrated the effect of MS on Greenberg, & Solomon, 1999; Rosenblatt et al., 1989), support for martyrdom attacks among Iranian college MS did not affect mood on any subscales (all Fs < 1), thus students, from the perspective of TMT, this tendency for ruling out the possibility that subjective mood produced existential fear to increase support for extreme and vio- by MS is responsible for the change in attitudes toward lent solutions to international conflicts is a general char- martyrdom. acteristic of the human condition. This suggests that sim- The results of Study 1 support TMT predictions. MS ilar forces are likely involved in fueling some Americans’ produced a significant increase in both the favorability support for extreme military interventions in the Middle ratings of the promartyrdom target person and willing- East. Study 2 investigated American college students’ ness to consider joining his or her cause. Thus, thoughts support for the use of extreme military force as of death led young people in the Middle East who ordi- appropriate tactics for use in the war against terrorism. narily preferred a person who took a pacifist stance to switch their allegiance to a person who advocated sui- STUDY 2: TMT AND SUPPORT FOR EXTREME cide bombings. These data support the proposition that MILITARY SOLUTIONS AMONG AMERICANS worldviews that construe one’s people as part of a sacred campaign to triumph over evil are especially appealing Study 2 examined Americans’ support for preemptive when terror management needs are heightened, even to wars, the use of nuclear and chemical weapons, and the the point of pulling people from the values that guide killing of thousands of innocent people as collateral their attitudes and evaluations under conditions of damage in the quest to destroy Osama bin Laden. The lower threat. This shift in allegiance will be considered in theoretical rationale was identical to that leading to greater detail in the general discussion. These findings Study 1: If viewing one’s nation as pursuing a valiant bat- provide the first experimental evidence documenting tle against evil serves a terror management function, psychological determinants of the appeal of martyrdom then reminders of one’s mortality should increase sup- and suggest that TMT may provide useful insights into port for extreme lethal measures as a means of vanquish- the psychological forces that encourage such behavior. ing that evil. One particularly common reminder of mor- Because we wished to make the target persons in this tality that is often raised in discussions of contemporary study as realistic as possible, the pacifist and radical tar- American foreign policy centers around the September get persons differed in several ways, including their feel- 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center ings regarding nonbelievers, their statements about the and Pentagon. Landau, Solomon, et al. (2004, Study 2) United States, and their support of martyrdom per se. showed that even subliminal presentation of the letters Thus, it is unclear exactly which aspects of the target per- WTC or the numbers 911 increase the accessibility of sons’ attitudes were most influential in determining eval- death-related thoughts. Thus, it was predicted that re- uations of the targets. However, the views expressed by minders of both one’s own death and the 9/11 attacks the target persons reflect attitudes that tend to go to- would increase support for a variety of extreme mili- gether in contemporary Islamic culture. People who tary solutions to the current conflict in the Middle East support martyrdom are unlikely to hold more positive among American college students. attitudes toward the United States than those opposed We also addressed an additional question in Study 2: to it. Does MS affect support for extreme military force It is worth noting that reminders of death influenced among all people, or does it primarily affect those with attitudes and evaluations even in a country where death political orientations or personality characteristics that is dealt with in a much more open manner than in the are associated with support for such measures? This gets West. For example, many older Muslim men and women back to the complex issue of how cultural worldviews
Pyszczynski et al. / DEATH VIOLENT SOLUTIONS 531
serve their terror management function. Wicklund Method
(1997) raised the question of whether MS leads people
to gravitate toward their existing worldview or toward PARTICIPANTS
worldviews that reduce ambiguity. More recently, Jost, In this study, 127 Rutgers university undergraduate
Glaser, Kruglanski, and Sulloway (2003) proposed that students (95 women and 32 men) were recruited to
MS pushes people toward supporting more conservative participate.
ideologies. According to TMT, when the need for pro-
tection from existential fears is heightened, people will PROCEDURE
gravitate toward whatever is most likely to provide effec-
The experimenter introduced the study as concern-
tive protection from this potential terror. Because the in-
ing the relationship between personality attributes and
dividual’s cultural worldview functions to provide this
opinions about matters of public interest. Participants
fortification, MS will generally lead to greater commit-
were given a booklet, told to work through it in order, to
ment to and perhaps more extreme ways of affirming
respond to the questions with their “gut reactions,” and
that worldview. However, cultural worldviews are com-
informed that they could withdraw from the study at any
plex structures that contain many elements, some of
time.
which may be in conflict with others. There may thus be
This questionnaire packet began with two filler ques-
situations in which less dominant thoughts and values tionnaires to sustain the cover story followed by the MS
may be more effective in providing protection than induction, parallel questions focused on intense physi-
those that make up the person’s central attitudes and val- cal pain (used in Landau, Johns, et al., 2004, Study 4), or
ues. In these instances, MS may lead people to gravitate a terrorism prime condition. Terrorism salience partici-
toward positions associated with enhanced security that pants were asked to “Please describe the emotions that
they might otherwise eschew when their need for exis- the thought of the terrorist attacks on September 11,
tential protection is less. 2001, arouses in you” and “Write down as specifically as
Supporting extreme military solutions in a war you can, what happened during the terrorist attacks on
against evil may be a particularly potent way of protect- September 11, 2001.” All participants then completed
ing oneself from existential anxiety. Vanquishing an en- the PANAS and a short passage to serve as a distraction.
emy that is construed as evil is likely to boost one’s self- Participants then completed the dependent measure
esteem by asserting one’s greater strength and moral consisting of the following five statements:
superiority while at the same time affirming the values
that differentiate one’s own group from the outgroup.
On the other hand, some worldviews may view lethal vio- 1. It is entirely appropriate to engage in preemptive at-
lence as unacceptable or as a form of evil itself and thus tacks on countries (e.g., Iran, Syria, North Korea) that
may pose a threat to the United States in the future,
steer those who subscribe to such views away from sup- even if there is no evidence they are planning to attack
porting solutions to conflicts that entail the killing of us right now.
others. Clearly in the United States, political conserva- 2. If necessary, the United States should use nuclear weap-
tives are more prone to negative attitudes toward out- ons to defend our interests at home and abroad.
3. If necessary, the United States should use chemical
groups (Jost et al., 2003) and are more supportive of tak-
weapons to defend our interests at home and abroad.
ing military action against Iraq (Gallup, 2005). Thus, MS 4. If we could capture or kill Osama bin Laden we should
seems most likely to increase support for extreme mili- do it, even if thousands of civilians are injured or killed
tary actions among conservatives. Therefore, in Study 2, in the process.
we examined whether participants’ political orientation 5. The Patriot Act should be strengthened, even if we have
to relinquish personal freedoms to make our country
moderates the hypothesized effect of MS on support for more secure.
American use of extreme military tactics in the Middle
East. However, prior TMT research is somewhat equivo-
cal on this issue. On one hand, Greenberg, Simon, Participants indicated their agreement with each state-
Pyszczynski, Solomon, and Chatel (1992) found that ment on 5-point scales (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly
conservatives became more negative toward a different agree).
other after MS, but liberals did not. On the other hand, Participants then completed a final page of the book-
Landau, Solomon, et al. (2004) found that MS increased let soliciting demographic information; specifically, gen-
liberals’ as well as conservatives’ support for President der, ethnicity, religion, and political orientation (“How
Bush. Therefore, there was no strong basis for an a priori would you describe your political orientation?” on a 9-
prediction as to whether political orientation would or point scale; 1 = very conservative; 5 = moderate; 9 = very lib-
would not moderate the predicted effect of MS on Amer- eral). Participants were subsequently debriefed and
icans’ support for extreme military actions. thanked.532 PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN
3.5
3
Pain
Pain 3
Mortality
Support for Extreme Force
Mortality Terrorism
Support for the Patriot Act
2.5 Terrorism
2.5
2
2
1.5
1.5
Conservatives Liberals 1
Political Orientation Conservatives Liberals
Political Orientation
Figure 3 Support for the use of extreme military force as a function Figure 4 Support for the Patriot Act as a function of mortality sa-
of mortality salience, 9/11 salience, and political orienta- lience, 9/11 salience, and political orientation. Higher
tion. Higher scores indicate greater support for use of mili- scores indicate greater support for use of military force.
tary force.
conservativism were associated with greater support for
Results and Discussion extreme military measures in these two conditions. To
provide tests of the differential effects of the two primes
SUPPORT FOR EXTREME FORCE for people on the liberal and conservative ends of the po-
litical spectrum, we compared the projected means in
The four items measuring support for extreme force the MS and 9/11 salience conditions with that of the con-
revealed acceptable internal consistency, Cronbach’s al- trol condition at one standard deviation above and be-
pha of .83. Consequently, a composite index was formed low the mean on the political orientation scale (Aiken &
by calculating the mean score on these four items. An West, 1991). These analyses revealed that the contrasts
ANOVA revealed no effect of the priming manipulation MS versus pain, β = .45, SE = .33, t = 2.80, p = .006, and 9/
on political orientation, F(2, 125) = 1.23, p = .30; conse- 11 versus pain, β = .36, SE = .28, t = 2.44, p = .01, reached
quently, political orientation was used as a predictor in significance among conservatives but not among liber-
the primary analyses. als. None of the other contrasts were significant (ps ≥
The composite index served as the dependent vari- .36). As Figure 3 shows, liberals’ support for extreme
able in a regression analysis with priming condition (MS force remained relatively low across the different prim-
vs. pain control vs. 9/11), political orientation, and the ing conditions, whereas conservatives’ support for ex-
product of the two as predictors. Priming condition was treme force significantly increased in both the MS and
dummy coded, yielding separate vectors for the MS ver- 9/11 salience conditions relative to the control condi-
sus pain control and 9/11 salience versus pain control tion, with MS and 9/11 salience moving them across the
contrasts and for the interaction of each of these con- midpoint of the scale.
trasts with political orientation (Aiken & West, 1991).
SUPPORT FOR THE PATRIOT ACT
The only significant main effect to emerge was for the
MS versus control contrast, β = .21, SE = .21, t = 2.04, p = The item assessing support for the Patriot Act was sub-
.04. This MS main effect was qualified by two significant jected to the same regression analysis. A main effect was
interactions: Political Orientation × MS versus control, found for both MS, β = .22, SE = .25, t = 2.30, p = .02, and
β = –.25, SE = .12, t = 2.27, p = .03, and Political Orienta- 9/11 salience, β = .21, SE = .25, t = 2.16, p = .03. These
tion × 9/11 versus control, β = –.28, SE = .10, t = 2.26, p = main effects were moderated by political orientation; Po-
.03 (see Figure 3). litical Orientation × MS versus control: β = –.32, SE = .14,
Analyses of simple slopes suggest that political orien- t = 3.01, p = .003; Political Orientation × 9/11 versus con-
tation predicts variation in support for extreme military trol: β = –.30, SE = .12, t = 2.54, p = .01. As Figure 4 shows,
interventions within the MS (β = –.44, SE = .09, t = –2.59, the simple slopes for political orientation predicting
p = .01) and 9/11 (β = –.38, SE = .07, t = –2.83, p = .005) support of the Patriot Act were significant in the MS and
conditions but not within the control condition (β = .07, 9/11 salience conditions, β = –.63, SE = .11, t = –3.93, p <
SE = .08, t = .47, p = .64); higher levels of political .001 and β = –.47, SE = .08, t = –3.71, p < .001, but not inPyszczynski et al. / DEATH VIOLENT SOLUTIONS 533
the control condition, β = .01, SE = .09, t = .05, p = .96. We treme military interventions in the Middle East, both of
followed the same procedure as described earlier to fur- which could entail the loss of thousands of innocent
ther explore the significant interactions. These analyses lives. Despite their differences, Americans and Iranians
revealed that MS and 9/11 salience led to increased sup- have something in common: Thoughts of death increase
port for the Patriot Act among conservatives, β = .57, SE = the willingness of people from both nations to inflict
.37, t = 3.75, p < .001, β = .45, SE = .36, t = 3.13, p = .002, but harm on citizens of the other nation. The same psycho-
not among liberals, ps ≥ .46. logical inclinations that make them want to kill us make
Study 2 conceptually replicated and extended Study 1 us want to kill them—regardless of which specific group
by demonstrating that reminders of both one’s own mor- is referred to by the words us and them.
tality and the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon and World It is somewhat encouraging that in the control condi-
Trade Center increased support for both extreme mili- tions, Iranian participants preferred the antimartyrdom
tary interventions in the Middle East and the Patriot Act student and American participants showed a relatively
among politically conservative Americans. However, low level of support for the use of lethal military power.
these inductions had no effect on either measure among However, the fact that reminders of death produced dra-
politically liberal Americans. Similar to the present find- matic increases in support for extremist solutions on
ings, Greenberg et al. (1992, Study 1) found that politi- both sides provides chilling testimony to the impact of
cal conservatives responded to MS with more negative the fear inevitably produced by war and violence on such
evaluations of political liberals but that political liberals’ allegiances and supports the TMT contention that exis-
evaluations of political conservatives were not affected tential concerns about one’s own mortality contribute to
by MS. Greenberg et al. argued that the value of toler- cultural, ethnic, and religious conflicts. It seems highly
ance that is central to liberal ideology is inconsistent with likely that death concerns are unusually salient in both
hostile reactions toward those who are different, making cultures at this moment in history. Landau, Solomon,
negative reactions to MS a potential threat to self-esteem et al. (2004, Study 2) showed that even subliminal pre-
and thereby preventing liberals from responding to MS sentation of the tragedy-associated digits 911 or letters
in this way. Consistent with this reasoning, a follow-up WTC increase death thought accessibility in American
study by Greenberg et al. (1992, Study 2) demonstrated college students. Although the events of September 11
that when the value of tolerance is primed, neither liber- are not as salient as they once were, they are still a com-
als nor conservatives derogated attitudinally dissimilar mon topic of conversation, and symbols associated with
others in response to MS. Thus, it seems likely that liber- that event are still commonly displayed in most parts of
als did not become more supportive of extreme military the country. Similarly, stories and pictures of victims of
interventions or the Patriot Act in response to reminders the war in Iraq and other places in the Middle East are
of death or 9/11 in the present study because the values found in newspapers, television programs, and Web sites
of their worldviews typically oppose such measures. throughout the Middle East.
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, political orientation These results are consistent with previous research
was not associated with scores on either measure in the showing that reminders of death can lead to more nega-
control condition. This might reflect the extreme nature tive, hostile, and aggressive responses to members of
of the attitudes assessed (e.g., using nuclear and chemi- outgroups and those who do not share one’s beliefs and
cal weapons); indeed, our conservative participants values (e.g., Greenberg et al., 1997). However, these
tended to oppose both extreme military force and the findings extend previous research by showing that MS
Patriot Act in the control condition, just as our Iranian leads to increased support for the use of lethal force and
participants preferred the antimartyrdom target in the acceptance of thousands of civilian casualties as ac-
Study 1. However, when reminded of either death or 9/ ceptable collateral damage in one nation’s struggle with
11, politically conservative participants’ support for a rival foreign power. The MS induction used here made
these issues rose just past the midpoint of the scales. no mention of the current conflict between the United
These findings show that MS can lead to an expression of States and parts of the Muslim world, and no participant
attitudinal tendencies that are not exhibited under less
in either study mentioned this conflict in his or her re-
threatening conditions.
sponse to the MS questions; thus, it seems clear that it was
thoughts of one’s own death and the existential prob-
GENERAL DISCUSSION lems these thoughts arouse rather than more specific
The present findings demonstrate that thoughts of reminders of the ongoing conflict that produced this
death increases people’s readiness to support extreme shift toward support for extreme solutions in both coun-
violent solutions to global conflicts. The same induction tries. The fact that thoughts of the 9/11 terrorist attacks
that increased Iranians’ support for martyrdom attacks produced equivalent effects in Study 2, in conjunction
against Americans increased Americans’ support for ex- with Landau, Solomon, et al.’s (2004, Study 2) finding534 PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN
that 9/11 priming increases the accessibility of death- among Iranian college students, MS led to increased in-
related thoughts, suggests that the increased support for terest in marriage, relative to both no treatment and
extreme military solutions produced by reminders of dental pain control conditions, which did not differ
this tragedy is likely at least partly due to the activation of from each other. Thus, the effects of MS in Iran seem
death-related thoughts. To our knowledge, these are the quite similar to those found in the United States. We also
first studies to demonstrate a causal impact of a psycho- conducted a simple study in which 20 Iranian and 20
logical variable on support for the use of lethal force in American college students were asked to indicate how
international conflict. scared they were of dental work. Although the difference
was not significant, if anything, Americans reported be-
Psychological Processes Underlying These Effects: ing more scared than Iranians, means of 4.55 and 3.45,
Terror Management and Other Possibilities respectively, t(38) = 1.65, p = .11. Thus, it seems highly
Although the practical import of these findings seems unlikely that it was thoughts of dental pain rather than
clear, questions about the precise processes that mediate death that led to changes in the Iranian participants’
these effects must be considered. Because we did not in- support of violent solutions.
clude neutral control conditions, the first question con- Another issue for Study 2 is whether the effects of 9/
cerns whether the death-related thoughts increased 11 salience resulted from heightened death thought ac-
support for violent solutions or the thoughts of pain acti- cessibility or some other aspect of 9/11-related thought.
vated in our control conditions reduced them. Fortu- Consistent with a likely role of death-related thought,
nately, in a wide range of studies with American partici- Landau, Solomon, et al. (2004) found that subliminal
pants, pain control conditions have been compared to presentations of 911 or WTC increased death thought
neutral control conditions as well as to a variety of other accessibility to levels comparable to those produced by
aversive thought control conditions with virtually identi- the standard MS induction used here (see e.g., Arndt,
cal patterns of results in all cases (e.g., Greenberg, Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1997) and that 9/
Pyszczynski, Solomon, Simon, & Breus, 1994; Landau, 11 and MS priming had equivalent effects on support for
Johns, et al., 2004; Landau, Solomon, et al., 2004; President Bush prior to the 2004 election. Other re-
Schimel et al., 1999). For example, in Landau, Solomon, search has shown that subliminal reminders of death
et al. (2004), the findings were virtually identical in all produce increases in worldview defense equivalent to
three studies whether the control condition was neutral, that produced by conscious contemplation of death
exam salience, or pain salience. In addition, MS effects (Arndt et al., 1997). The fact that in Study 2 the 9/11
have been found using a variety of ways to heighten means were virtually identical to those found for the MS
death thought accessibility, ranging from proximity to a induction fits well with these prior findings. Although
funeral home to subliminal death word primes (con- these considerations are consistent with the view that the
trasted with pain and neutral words). Thus, the findings 9/11 and MS primes produced their effects through sim-
of Study 2 are very likely the result of an MS-induced ilar mechanisms, it is nonetheless possible that different
increase in support of extreme solutions among conser- processes were involved. To definitively address this is-
vative participants. sue, research focused specifically on the network of asso-
However, in Study 1, because we used Iranian partici- ciations and feelings aroused by reminders of 9/11 will
pants, there may be more reason to wonder if thoughts be needed.
of dental pain might have had an impact on the results. Although we did not assess the underlying cognitive
For example, one might speculate that in light of the cul- processes through which death-related thoughts in-
tural belief that death is something to look forward to, creased advocacy of violence in this pair of studies, other
Iranians may be more frightened by dental procedures research has precisely delineated the processes by which
and that this fear led them to decrease their support for the MS induction used in these studies produces its ef-
the martyrdom-espousing student. This seems unlikely fects. In fact, more than 20 studies have been devoted to
though for several reasons. First, in a conference presen- this question and have supported a terror management-
tation, Abdollahi (2004) reported several studies dem- based dual process model of defense (Pyszczynski et al.,
onstrating that relative to both neutral and aversive 1999; for a recent review, see Arndt, Cook, & Routledge,
thought control conditions, MS produces worldview de- 2004). This work indicates that MS effects result from a
fense effects in Iran parallel to those found in the United delayed increase in the accessibility of death-related
States. For example, he found that among Iranian ado- thought, that worldview defenses reduce this height-
lescents, subliminal presentation of death-related pic- ened accessibility back to baseline levels, and that the
tures led to harsher judgments of an adolescent’s viola- function of these defenses is to reduce the potential for
tion of a cultural norm than did subliminal presentation anxiety engendered by death-related thought close to
of neutral pictures (cf. Florian & Mikulincer, 1998), and consciousness.Pyszczynski et al. / DEATH VIOLENT SOLUTIONS 535
The best supported alternative account of MS effects dent Bush has repeatedly construed U.S. military cam-
is that thoughts of death arouse feelings of uncertainty paigns in the Middle East as part of a “war on terror” in
(McGregor, Zanna, Holmes, & Spencer, 2001; van den which “lovers of freedom” pursue a valiant mission to
Bos, 2001). For example, van den Boss (2001) reported root out “evil-doers” who “hate freedom.”
studies suggesting that uncertainty salience replicates Our findings are consistent with the view that MS in-
MS effects on responses to perceived unfair treatment creased attraction to martyrdom and extreme military
and inequity. Based on this work, one could plausibly measures because these positions are specifically di-
argue in the present context that the uncertainty pro- rected toward eradicating evil. It may be that for most
duced by thoughts of death motivated the preference for people, inhibitions against killing other people can be
decisive measures directed toward eradicating evil. This overcome only when the target is viewed as inherently
view cannot be ruled out for the present studies; how- evil. However, these positions are associated with a vari-
ever, both conceptual and empirical issues cast some ety of other attitudes and beliefs, so at this point, we can-
doubt on this interpretation. not be sure that this specific aspect of the worldview was
First, it is not clear why the MS induction would pro- responsible for these effects. More precisely controlled
duce more uncertainty than the controls used in these studies are clearly needed to determine the specific role
studies, dental pain and intense pain, or in other studies the desire to vanquish evil, isolated from associated atti-
(e.g., worries after college, social exclusion, giving a tudes and beliefs, plays in these findings and terror man-
speech in public). In one important sense, death is the agement in general.
only certain future event. What is uncertain about it is Of course, our primary goal with these studies was to
when and how it will happen and what happens after- enhance our understanding of the psychological forces
ward. Interestingly, Iranians generally seem far more that encourage support for violent solutions to the ongo-
certain about what happens afterward than Americans, ing conflicts in the Middle East. This research indicates
so that aspect may be less uncertain for them, yet the MS that the increased awareness of death can lead people to
induction clearly affects them. People are likely to be un- desire to inflict harm on those who are construed as ene-
certain about worries after college, about when and how mies. This suggests that the frequent reminders of death
intense pain or dental pain will occur and what that and that inevitably result from armed conflicts may be fan-
its aftermath will be like, and matters like how they will ning the passions that sustain these conflicts. Although
do on upcoming exams. Thus, when MS has different ef- TMT theorists have argued that terror management pro-
fects than such aversive future events, it seems unlikely cesses play an important role in the problems in the Mid-
that uncertainty is the operative factor. More damaging dle East (Pyszczynski et al., 2003), these studies provide
to an uncertainty interpretation, a substantial set of re- much needed evidence that this is indeed likely to be
cent studies has found quite different effects for the MS true.
induction used here and uncertainty salience (e.g.,
Friedman & Arndt, in press; Landau, Johns, et al., 2004; Polarization of Worldviews or Shift Toward
Routledge, Arndt, & Goldenberg, 2004). Despite this ev- Security-Providing Worldview Elements?
idence supporting the discriminant validity of the MS in- The question of whether thoughts of death push peo-
duction, the relationships among death, uncertainty, ple to confirm their preexisting worldviews or to move
and other existential threats is surely a worthy topic for toward belief systems that are especially likely to provide
further investigation. security (cf. Jost et al., 2003; Wicklund, 1997) is a com-
The Axis of Evil Versus the Great Satan plex one. Although a large research program will be nec-
essary to fully address this question, the present findings
From a TMT perspective, people protect themselves do bear on it. In both studies, the MS inductions led par-
from the fear of death inherent in the human condition ticipants to move toward supporting positions that were
by aligning themselves with aspects of cultural world- generally not supported in the control conditions. This
views that enable them to view themselves as significant shift toward positions not favored under neutral con-
contributors to a meaningful and enduring reality. Be- ditions has emerged in several other TMT studies. For
cause some Islamic groups and leaders advocate martyr- example, Cohen et al. (2004) showed that MS greatly
dom against the United States as a heroic means of van- increased support for a charismatic leader who gar-
quishing evil, alignment with martyrdom causes has nered little support under control conditions; Landau,
become a means of attaining this sense of death- Solomon, et al., (2004) demonstrated that MS led to a
transcending significance. Some Islamic sects preach dramatic reversal of preferences for George Bush over
that martyrdom attacks are the duty of all good Muslims John Kerry among college students who were registered
and that those who do so will be rewarded by a blissful and intended to vote in the 2004 American presidential
afterlife, the ultimate victory over death. Similarly, Presi- election; and Schimel et al. (1999) found that MS led536 PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN
participants who preferred a stereotype disconfirming gence in findings across the two nations raises the hope
African American under control conditions to prefer an that recognizing the role of a common psychological
African American who confirmed widely shared racial force in fueling hostilities in both nations might create at
stereotypes. It seems clear that reminders of mortality least some empathy within each country for people in
do not simply lead to an amplification of tendencies that the other and perhaps even provide some impetus for
exist under more neutral conditions. Rather, MS leads finding additional common ground that could be used
people to gravitate toward conceptions of reality that as a basis for seeking more peaceful resolutions to the
provide security in one way or other. Often this entails issues that divide us.
affirming the dominant aspects of one’s worldview, but Cultural worldviews have been characterized as fitting
as the present and other results demonstrate, sometimes one of two types (Pyszczynski et al., 2003). The first type,
this entails moving toward less dominant aspects of the “the rock,” is a relatively secure, rigid conception that
worldview that are heavily associated with feelings of emphasizes absolutes of good and evil; proponents of
superiority, structure, and security. such worldviews hold them with great certainty, and the
Study 2 provides additional insight into this issue by primary negative emotion they experience when their
demonstrating that preexisting differences in political worldview is threatened is anger directed toward that
orientation predicted which participants responded to which is designated as evil. The second type, “the hard
MS by increasing their support for extreme military poli- place,” is a more flexible and hence less secure
cies. When reminded of their mortality, conservative but worldview that emphasizes the relativity and complexity
not liberal participants increased their support for the of assessments of right and wrong; proponents of such
use of such tactics. Perhaps the inhibitions against such worldviews live with uncertainty, and the primary nega-
tactics were simply stronger for liberal participants, or tive emotion they experience is anxiety. The present re-
the threat posed by Middle Eastern radicals was per- search suggests that when thoughts of death are highly
ceived as stronger for conservative participants. Al- accessible, people, especially those with prior leanings in
though these findings suggest that preexisting attitudes this direction, gravitate toward the former rock type of
play an important role in determining how people will worldview, an inclination that can contribute to a cycle of
protect themselves from existential concerns, we suspect violence as groups lash out at the “evil” they perceive in
that other factors are involved as well. The logic of TMT those whose worldview is different from their own.
suggests that reminders of death should lead people to
gravitate toward whatever aspect of one’s worldview is
expected to provide the best protection at the time the NOTE
protection is needed. Providing a clearer explication of 1. In both studies, there were no significant effects of gender and
the factors that determine which aspects will provide no significant effects on the mood measures.
superior protection is an important challenge for future
work. REFERENCES
Abdollahi, A. (2004, July). Effects of mortality salience on judgment, choice,
CONCLUSION self-esteem and behavior. Poster session presented at the 18th Inter-
In our view, the most important contribution of this national Society for the Study of Behavioural Development Meet-
ing, Ghent, Belgium.
research is to show that common psychological forces Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and inter-
contribute to support for extreme solutions to the cur- preting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
rent conflict in the Middle East in both the United States Arndt, J., Cook, A., & Routledge, C. (2004). The blueprint of ter-
ror management: Understanding the cognitive architecture of
and Iran. The same variable that increases support for psychological defense against the awareness of death. In
martyrdom attacks in the Middle East increases support J. Greenberg, S. Koole, & T. Pyszczynski (Eds.), The handbook of
for use of extremely lethal military force in the United experimental existential psychology (pp. 35-53). New York: Guildford.
Arndt, J., Greenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T., & Solomon, S. (1997). Sub-
States. To our knowledge, these are the first studies to ex- liminal exposure to death-related stimuli increases defense of the
amine common psychological determinants of attitudes cultural worldview. Psychological Science, 8, 379-385.
on both sides of this volatile international conflict. These Baldwin, M. W., & Wesley, R. (1996). Effects of existential anxiety and
self-esteem on the perception of others. Basic and Applied Social
studies show that scientifically rigorous research can Psychology, 18, 75-95.
yield insights into the forces that encourage allegiance Becker, E. (1975). Escape from evil. New York: Free Press.
to good versus evil ideologies that are currently threaten- Cohen, F., Ogilvie, D. M., Solomon, S., Greenberg, J., & Pyszczynski,
T. (in press). American roulette: The effect of reminders of death
ing the peace in much of the world. Given what is at on support for George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election.
stake, a scientifically informed understanding of the Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy.
forces responsible for escalating the conflict between Cohen, F., Solomon, S., Maxfield, M., Pyszczynski, T., & Greenberg J.
(2004). Fatal attraction: The effects of mortality salience on evalu-
the United States and the Islamic world is sorely needed. ations of charismatic, task-oriented, and relationship-oriented
Although frightening in their implications, the conver- leaders. Psychological Science, 15, 846-851.You can also read
