An examination of Terror Management Theory with older adults

Masooda Nassimi Bashir, Purdue University

Abstract

Terror Management Theory (TMT) holds that individuals who are made aware of death rapidly suppress/repress it from consciousness, but this suppression leads to harsher judgments of others who violate society's norms. Although TMT has been supported by a large number of empirical studies showing that mortality salience (MS) has increased younger adults' defense of their cultural worldviews, none of this research has explicitly investigated these processes in older adults. The aim of the present study was to examine whether the mortality salience hypothesis of TMT can be confirmed in a population of older adults. An experiment using a 2X2X2 factorial design and TMT procedures was carried out, with treatment (mortality salience, control), age (young-old, old-old) and gender (male, female) as between-subjects factors and judgment scores as the dependent variable. Specifically, it was hypothesized that older individuals who are made aware of death through a MS treatment will show greater defense of their cultural values compared to older individuals who experience a control condition. In addition, it was hypothesized that the effect of the MS treatment will depend on the individual's gender and age group. Participants' defense of their worldviews after experiencing MS or a control condition was assessed by their judgments of a set of moral transgressions, as well as their judgments of pro- and anti-US essays. One hundred fifty elders (74 men, 76 women) from a Midwest community, ranging in age from 65 to 96 ( M = 76.6) were interviewed individually. Results showed no significant difference in judgments between treatment and control, either as a main effect or in interaction with age and gender, although women's judgments were significantly harsher than men's (p < .05). In an attempt to explain the findings, it was hypothesized that older adults may be less inhibited about dealing with death fear at the conscious level, using such mechanisms as conscious death acceptance or conscious avoidance, along with suppression. A follow-up study tested this with 52 participants for whom DAP-Rev scores on Fear and Avoidance were available. In a path analysis, SES (a key TMT variable) was both indirectly related to avoidance through fear and directly related to avoidance, with the latter directly related to judgments. This supporting evidence suggests that TMT may need some modification to apply to older adults, taking more account of conscious avoidance of death as well as suppression as determinants of judgments of others.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Cicirelli, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Developmental psychology

COinS