A Consideration of Three Critical Hypotheses
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Successfully meeting or exceeding our cultural worldview criteria for appropriate behavior yields self-esteem and the sense one is a valued member of their culture.
“Successfully meeting or exceeding our cultural worldview criteria for appropriate behavior yields selfesteem and the sense one is a valued member of their culture (Pyszczynski et al., 2015; Rosenblatt et al., 1989; Schimel et al., 2019).”
From Mortality management and climate action: A review and reference for using Terror Management Theory methods in interdisciplinary environmental research (2022) · cites this paper as Schimel et al., 2019
Empirical findings have indicated that DTA increases following threats to cultural worldviews or self-esteem.
“Empirical findings have indicated that DTA increases following threats to cultural worldviews or self-esteem (Schimel et al., 2019).”
From Mortality management and climate action: A review and reference for using Terror Management Theory methods in interdisciplinary environmental research (2022) · cites this paper as Schimel et al., 2019
Nearly 40 years of experimental and observational data provide compelling and robust empirical support that MS can measurably change behavior.
“Nearly 40 years of experimental and observational data provide compelling and robust empirical support that MS can measurably change behavior, supporting the hypothesis that sociocultural and psychosocial structures may have developed with the primary function of blunting fears of death and dying [1, 10].”
From Not so terrifying after all? A set of failed replications of the mortality salience effects of Terror Management Theory (2023) · cites this paper as [10]
Cites
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The Meaning Maintenance Model: On the Coherence of Social Motivations
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A Function of Form: Terror Management and Structuring the Social World.
Landau, M. J., Johns, M., Greenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T., Martens, A., Goldenberg, J. L., & Solomon, S. (2004) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.87.2.190 · Cited by 275 · see citing works
When Death is Good for Life: Considering the Positive Trajectories of Terror Management
Vail, K. E., Juhl, J., Arndt, J., Vess, M., Routledge, C., & Rutjens, B. T. (2012) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868312440046 · Cited by 210 · see citing works
Jonas, E., Martens, A., Niesta Kayser, D., Fritsche, I., Sullivan, D., & Greenberg, J. (2008) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0013593 · Cited by 189 · see citing works
Mortality salience increases adherence to salient norms and values
Gailliot, M. T., Stillman, T. F., Schmeichel, B. J., Maner, J. K., & Plant, E. A. (2008) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167208316791 · Cited by 174 · see citing works
Routledge, C., & Arndt, J. (2008) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.442 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Schimel, J., Wohl, M. J. A., & Williams, T. (2006) · Motivation and Emotion · doi:10.1007/s11031-006-9040-y · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Self-citationPeters, H. J., Greenberg, J., Williams, J. M., & Schneider, N. R. (2005) · Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology · doi:10.1123/jsep.27.1.111 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Threat-Compensation in Social Psychology: Is There a Core Motivation?
Proulx, T. (2012) · Social Cognition · doi:10.1521/soco.2012.30.6.643 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Smith, L. K. M., Ross, H. C., Shouldice, S. A., & Wolfe, S. E. (2022) · WIREs Climate Change · doi:10.1002/wcc.776 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
“Cultural worldviews are human-constructed shared belief and value system frameworks that outline criteria for how to live a meaningful life (Pyszczynski et al., 2015; Schimel et al., 2019).”
BackgroundInfluentialTerror management theory and the educational situation
van Kessel, C., den Heyer, K., & Schimel, J. (2019) · The Journal of Curriculum Studies · doi:10.1080/00220272.2019.1659416 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Self-citationGetting Your Facebook Affairs in Order
Gach, K. Z., & Brubaker, J. R. (2021) · Proc. ACM Hum. Comput. Interact. · doi:10.1145/3449248 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
“Terror management theory—the idea that human beings’ ability to know they will die one day is constantly at odds with our instinct to survive—is one of the most well-established possible explanations of why people struggle to discuss their own deaths [36].”
BackgroundTeaching the Climate Crisis: Existential Considerations
van Kessel, C. (2020) · Journal of Curriculum Studies Research · doi:10.46303/jcsr.02.01.8 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Treger, S., Benau, E. M., & Timko, C. A. (2023) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0285267 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Understanding posthumous sperm retrieval during war through a terror management theory perspective
Oreg, A., & Ben‐Ari, O. T. –. (2024) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116870 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Fighting the plague: “Difficult” knowledge as sirens’ song in teacher education
van Kessel, C., & Saleh, M. (2020) · Journal of Curriculum Studies Research · doi:10.46303/jcsr.2020.7 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“, a symbolic conception of reality shared by a group) and the self-esteem we derive from being a valued member among others who share the same worldview (Schimel et al., 2018).”
BackgroundMethodThe Existential Quest: Doubt, Openness, and the Exploration of Religious Uncertainty
Arrowood, R. B., Vail, K. E., & Cox, C. R. (2021) · International Journal for the Psychology of Religion · doi:10.1080/10508619.2021.1902647 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“These findings are consistent with the anxiety-buffer disruption hypothesis (Yetzer & Pyszczynski, 2019) and the DTA hypothesis (Schimel et al., 2019), and converges with other work finding, for example, that death anxiety is associated with other symptoms of anxiety-buffer disruption (Vail,…”
BackgroundResultInfluentialThe desire to be remembered: A review and analysis of legacy motivations and behaviors
Waggoner, B., Bering, J. M., & Halberstadt, J. B. (2022) · New Ideas in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.newideapsych.2022.101005 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Responding to Worldview Threats in the Classroom: An Exploratory Study of Preservice Teachers
van Kessel, C., Jacobs, N., Catena, F., & Edmondson, K. (2021) · Journal of Teacher Education · doi:10.1177/00224871211051991 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“A full presentation of TMT is beyond our scope in this article: Please see Schimel et al. (2018) for a more detailed articulation of the literature.”
BackgroundQi, J. (2023) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672221081270 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“…humanly constructed, shared, symbolic conceptions of reality that infuse human existence with a sense of meaning, order, and permanence; the second one is self-esteem enhancement, by which one feel heroic within the context of the cultural meaning system (see Schimel et al., 2019, for a review).”
BackgroundKilpatrick, M., Hutchinson, A., Manias, E., & Bouchoucha, S. (2022) · Death Studies · doi:10.1080/07481187.2022.2132550 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“According to Terror Management Theory (TMT), mortality salience is the state in which awareness of one’s own mortality increases anxiety and can cause unbearable terror or internal conflict (Schimel et al., 2019).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialHealth care utilization as a predictor of death anxiety in older adults
Becker, T. (2020) · Death Studies · doi:10.1080/07481187.2020.1774942 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“Successful integration facilitates death-transcendence, or the ability to disregard death (Schimel et al., 2019).”
BackgroundInfluentialSpontaneous war weddings as a reaction to a national trauma: A terror management theory perspective
Oreg, A., & Ben‐Ari, O. T. –. (2024) · Death Studies · doi:10.1080/07481187.2024.2386063 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“Symbolic immor-tality refers to symbolic extensions of the self (e.g., progeny who carry on family values, works of art, or written works) that persist within the culture after one’s physical death (Schimel et al., 2019).”
Jimenez, T., Helm, P. J., & Arndt, J. (2020) · Group Processes & Intergroup Relations · doi:10.1177/1368430220920375 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Taubman-Ben-Ari, O., Erel-Brodsky, H., Ring, L., & Mijalevich-Soker, E. (2025) · Death Studies · doi:10.1080/07481187.2025.2551377 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“When these three shields are strengthened, the facilitation of the denial of death occurs, enabling a state of psychological equanimity, allowing individuals to live their lives without constant contemplation of their own mortality (Schimel et al., 2019).”
Collapse and validation of terror management anxiety buffers –therapists’ reactions to war
Ben‐Ari, O. T. –., Erel‐Brodsky, H., & Ben‐Kimhy, R. (2025) · Death Studies · doi:10.1080/07481187.2025.2509903 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“The theory originally proposed two main regulating mechanisms, or “anxiety buffers,” which are activated in response to a mortality salience (Schimel et al., 2019): reinforcement of collective worldviews and enhancement of self-esteem.”
How Existential Anxiety Shapes Communication in Coping with the Coronavirus Pandemic
Miller, C. H., & Ma, H. (2021) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781119751809.ch3 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Hayes, J., & Rafferty, J. M. (2020) · Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1521/jscp.2020.39.4.315 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationArendsen, J. L., Brugman, B. C., van Koningsbruggen, G. M., & Fransen, M. L. (2025) · International Journal of Consumer Studies · doi:10.1111/ijcs.70056 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“…related to one's cultural worldview and based on the assumption that “cultural worldviews prescribe standards of univer-salism and benevolence” (Schimel et al. 2019, 8) and as such, “reminders of mortality should generally encourage people to be more charitable to other” (Jonas et al. 2013,…”
Influential‘Fear of death: Al-Hawl’s children and the security threat in the Middle East’
Garshasbi, R., & Maleh, A. K. (2024) · Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression · doi:10.1080/19434472.2024.2305947 · Cited by 3
“This shift from relying on parents to a cultural worldview provides a sense of safety and immortality (Schimel et al., 2019).”
Mattson, T., Weng, Q., & Ren, J. (2024) · Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences · doi:10.24251/hicss.2023.866 · Cited by 3
“Death reminders may lead to socially constructive responses (Fischer-Preßler et al., 2019; Schimel et al., 2019; Vail et al., 2012).”
Terror Management Theory: Mortality Salience
Rhodes, N. (2020) · The International Encyclopedia of Media Psychology · doi:10.1002/9781119011071.iemp0127 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Smith, L. K. M., & Wolfe, S. E. (2025) · PsyEcology Bilingual Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1177/21711976241309249 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Terror Management Theory (TMT) scholars have shown existential anxiety, stemming from MRs, influences identity, beliefs, self-esteem and, ultimately, behaviours (Greenberg et al., 1990; Schimel et al., 2019).”
InfluentialMakhoul, M. (2024) · Poetics Today · doi:10.1215/03335372-11381611 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Enough Terror to Belong: The Nonlinear Association of Death Anxiety with Group Identification
Li, C., Dang, J., & Liu, L. (2024) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1155/2024/3699789 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Group identi fi cation is among the most signi fi cant distal defenses [15, 19] and refers to perceiving oneself as a member of a speci fi c social group and having a psychological connection to that group (e.g., a sense of belonging and attachment) [20, 21].”
Terror-Management-Theorie und Kriegssorge in Osteuropa. Theologisch-ethische Überlegungen
Orosz, G. V. (2026) · Zeitschrift für evangelische Ethik · doi:10.1515/zee-2026-3014
Smith, L. K. M., Bergsieker, H. B., & Wolfe, S. E. (2025) · PLOS Water · doi:10.1371/journal.pwat.0000460 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Over 30 years of social psychological research has aided in TMT development and validation [80,81,84].”
(Con)spirituality as a curriculum of immortality
van Kessel, C., Varga, B. S., & Manriquez, J. D. (2024) · Review of Education/Pedagogy/Cultural Studies · doi:10.1080/10714413.2024.2391604
“When our thoughts about mortality are activated, we seek (un)consciously to strengthen the psychological structures that protect us from existential anxiety (Schimel et al., 2018).”
Lifshin, U., Greenberg, J. L., Soenke, M., Helm, P., & Pyszczynski, T. (2024) · Khazanah Theologia · doi:10.15575/kt.v6i1.23935
“Terror management researchers may employ various techniques to test if a psychological construct (e.g., self-esteem, belief in the afterlife) serves a death anxiety buffering function (for a review of TMT hypotheses, see, e.g., Schimel et al., (2019)).”
BackgroundMethodMortality Salience and Death Anxiety: The Moderating Roles of Self-Esteem and Religiosity
Abdul, M. (2024) · Omega · doi:10.1177/00302228241272498
“One theory supporting this is the terror management theory (TMT), which posits that the mortality salience hypothesis leads to psychological terror (Schimel et al., 2019; Shatil, 2012).”
- Authors
- Schimel, J., Hayes, J., & Sharp, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Alberta (CA)
- Acadia University (CA)
- Venue
- Handbook of Terror Management Theory
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Published
- 2019
- Pages
- 1-30
- OpenAlex
- W2940185166
- Cited by
- 40
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 23.33
- Type
- book chapter
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Elsevier eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Media Influence and Health
- Keywords
- terror management theory, mortality salience, fear of death, self-esteem, death-thought accessibility, immortality, Ernest Becker
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