Terror Management Theory and Psychological Disorder

The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation.

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Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults

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Existential Psychotherapy

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Terror management theory and the COVID-19 pandemic

Pyszczynski, T., Lockett, M., Greenberg, J., & Solomon, S. (2021) · Journal of Humanistic Psychology · doi:10.1177/0022167820959488 · Cited by 389

An investigation into the relationship between climate change anxiety and mental health among Gen Z Filipinos

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Bereavement and psychological distress during COVID-19 pandemics: The impact of death experience on mental health

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In harm’s way: Non-migration decisions of people at risk of slow-onset coastal hazards in Bangladesh

Mallick, B., Rogers, K. G., & Sultana, Z. (2021) · AMBIO · doi:10.1007/s13280-021-01552-8 · Cited by 57

Death concerns, benefit-finding, and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic

Cox, C. R., Swets, J. A., Gully, B., Xiao, J., & Yraguen, M. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648609 · Cited by 43

Understanding user responses to the COVID-19 pandemic on Twitter from a terror management theory perspective: Cultural differences among the US, UK and India

Kwon, S., & Park, A. (2022) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2021.107087 · Cited by 33

Eliciting Mortality Salience in Dark Tourism and its Influence

Kai, B., & Chen, R. (2024) · Journal of Travel Research · doi:10.1177/00472875231223659 · Cited by 19

Terror Management Theory: A Practical Review of Research and Application

Arrowood, R. B., & Cox, C. R. (2020) · Brill Research Perspectives in Religion and Psychology · doi:10.1163/25897128-12340003 · Cited by 18

Associations between death anxiety and probable posttraumatic stress disorder and clinical depression and anxiety in older Israeli adults during wartime

Bergman, Y. S., Saar‐Ashkenazy, R., Faran, Y., Klonover, E., & Palgi, Y. (2025) · Journal of Traumatic Stress · doi:10.1002/jts.23131 · Cited by 15

The 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 19

Training the embodied self in its impermanence: meditators evidence neurophysiological markers of death acceptance

Dor‐Ziderman, Y., Schweitzer, Y., Nave, O., Trautwein, F., Fulder, S. J., Antoine Lutz, A., Goldstein, A., & Berkovich‐Ohana, A. (2025) · Neuroscience of Consciousness · doi:10.1093/nc/niaf002 · Cited by 16

Measurement invariance and country difference in death anxiety: evidence from portuguese and arab samples

Gonçalves, G., AL-Dossary, S. A., & Sousa, C. (2023) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-023-04659-1 · Cited by 12

OCD, death anxiety, and attachment: what’s love got to do with it?

Verin, R. E., Menzies, R. E., & Menzies, R. G. (2021) · Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s135246582100045x · Cited by 13

Attachment styles and empathy in trainee nurses: the mediating and moderating roles of attitudes toward death

Ting, W., Guo, M., Jin, H., & Zhang, B. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1445587 · Cited by 11

Anxiety Buffer Disruption: Self-Evaluation, Death Anxiety, and Stressor Appraisals Among Low and High Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Samples

Vail, K., Reed, D. E., Goncy, E. A., Cornelius, T., & Edmondson, D. (2020) · Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1521/jscp.2020.39.5.353 · Cited by 9

The stuff that nightmares are made of: Israeli dreams in times of the Israel-Hamas war

Pitcho‐Prelorentzos, S. (2024) · Death Studies · doi:10.1080/07481187.2024.2348054 · Cited by 13

Perceived Similarity of the Self to Animals, Creativity, and Anxiety—: A Terror Management Analysis

Lifshin, U., Greenberg, J., Syropoulos, S., Leidner, B., Helm, P. J., Sullivan, D., Horner, D. E., & Mikulincer, M. (2021) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672211063260 · Cited by 7

To the Victors Go the Existential Spoils: The Mental-Health Benefits of Cultural Worldview Defense for People WHO Successfully Meet Cultural Standards and Valued Goals

Hubley, C., Hayes, J., Harvey, M., & Musto, S. (2020) · Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1521/jscp.2020.39.4.274 · Cited by 8

The Association Between Depression and Death Anxiety Among Older Adults: Moderating Effect of Ego-Integrity.

Woo, J.-H., & Bae, S.-M. (2025) · OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying · doi:10.1177/00302228221115586 · Cited by 7

From the p ‐Factor to Cognitive Content: Detection and Discrimination of Psychopathologies Based on Explainable Artificial Intelligence

Eyrikaya, E., & Dağ, İ. (2025) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1155/da/9943590 · Cited by 7

The Effect of Death Anxiety on Work Passion: Moderating Roles of Work Centrality and Work Connection

AL-Dossary, S., Sousa, C., & Gonçalves, G. (2024) · Omega · doi:10.1177/00302228241236227 · Cited by 6

Death anxiety and work passion: cross-cultural analyses from Portugal and Saudi Arabia

Sousa, C., Gonçalves, G., & AL-Dossary, S. A. (2025) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-024-07274-w · Cited by 4

Direct Losses and Media Exposure to Death: The Long-Term Effect of Mourning during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Caci, B., & Giordano, G. (2024) · Journal of Clinical Medicine · doi:10.3390/jcm13133911 · Cited by 3

How a Child Understands Death: Attachment Theory Perspective

Aleem, S. (2024) · Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1177/02537176241257657 · Cited by 3

Editorial Foreword: Applying Existential Social Psychology to Mental Health

Vail, K. E., Sullivan, D., Landau, M. J., & Greenberg, J. (2020) · Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1521/jscp.2020.39.4.229 · Cited by 3

Not all dogs (and goals) were created equal: an existential perspective on helplessness

Mikulincer, M., & Lifshin, U. (2022) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699931.2022.2118236 · Cited by 2

Anxiety-buffer disruption in combat soldiers: the contributions of exposure to combat-related threats, attachment anxiety, and ideological threat to mental health and addiction

Lifshin, U., Skvirsky, V., Vider, M., Kor, A., Lev‐Ran, S., & Mikulincer, M. (2026) · Anxiety Stress & Coping · doi:10.1080/10615806.2026.2669926 · Cited by 2

“Piyanist” Filminin Dehşet Yönetimi Kuramı Perspektifinden İncelenmesi

Şahin, E. S. (2023) · İnsan ve Toplum Bilimleri Araştırmaları Dergisi · doi:10.15869/itobiad.1199250 · Cited by 2

Death Distress and Religiosity Among Spanish Patients Diagnosed With Depression and Anxiety

Armas-Arráez, M. M., Padilla, G. M., Fernández-Mateos, L. M., & Sánchez-Cabaco, A. (2023) · Omega · doi:10.1177/00302228231186369 · Cited by 2

Editorial Foreword: Applying Existential Social Psychology to Mental Health

Vail, K. E., Sullivan, D., Landau, M. J., & Greenberg, J. (2020) · Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1521/jscp.2020.39.5.i

Death's cold grip or helping hand: the effects of mortality salience on goal choice

Goffredi, R. (2022) · MOspace Institutional Repository (University of Missouri) · doi:10.32469/10355/91507

A COVID–19-pandémia, halálszorongás és lelki egészség a terrormenedzsment-elmélet szemszögéből

Vona, G. (2022) · Mentálhigiéné és Pszichoszomatika · doi:10.1556/0406.23.2022.016

Death Anxiety and PsychopathologyPreprint

Mazidi, M., Zarei, M., Bouyaghchi, Z. A., Ranjbar, S., & Menzies, R. E. (2024) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/e3pmr

A Qualitative Study Understanding the Implications on Expectations of Death Versus Reality

David, C. A., Zolnikov, T. R., & -, E. M. (2024) · International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research · doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2024.v06i04.26070

Exploring the Societal Impact of Death Anxiety on Mental Health Among Nurses: A Positive Psychology Perspective

Lisa, G., & Macle, E. (2024) · Safety and Health For Medical Workers · doi:10.69725/shmw.v1i3.154

The Relationship Between Mother–Infant Attachment, Spiritual Well-Being, and Death Anxiety in Postpartum Women

Sökmen, Y., & Koç, Z. (2025) · International Journal of Childbirth · doi:10.1891/ijc-2025-0003

The psychological clang of terrorism fear and stress on employees’ well-being

Shah, S. A. A., Alyaemni, A., & Ali, L. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1499371

Symbolic Immortality, Mental Health, and Addictions: A Terror Management Perspective

Lifshin, U., Shmulewitz, D., Levitin, M. D., Skvirsky, V., Cherniak, A. D., & Mikulincer, M. (2026) · International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction · doi:10.1007/s11469-026-01720-5

The Specifically Human Dimension of Anxiety: An Existential-Phenomenological Account Grounded in the Structure of Possible Existence

Gebler, F. A. (2026) · Journal of Humanistic Psychology · doi:10.1177/00221678261430962

How and When COVID‐19‐related News Consumption Relates to Mental Health Complaints—A Cross‐Sectional Study

Rahaman, H., & Samad, R. (2026) · Health Science Reports · doi:10.1002/hsr2.72999

A terror management perspective on the role of death-related anxiety in psychological dysfunction

Maxfield, M., John, S., & Pyszczynski, T. (2014) · The Humanistic Psychologist · doi:10.1080/08873267.2012.732155 · Cited by 108

Terror Management Theory

Arrowood, R. B., & Cox, C. R. (2020) · BRILL eBooks · doi:10.1163/9789004429505_002 · Cited by 4

Death Awareness and Terror Management Theory

Dar-Nimrod, I. (2022) · Existential Concerns and Cognitive-Behavioral Procedures · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-06932-1_3 · Cited by 8

Existential Meaning and Terror Management

Solomon, S., & Greenberg, J. (2019) · Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology · doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.241 · Cited by 5

Putting the Terror in Terror Management Theory: Evidence That the Awareness of Death Does Cause Anxiety and Undermine Psychological Well-Being

Juhl, J., & Routledge, C. (2016) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0963721415625218 · Cited by 124