Managing terror when self-worth and worldviews collide: Evidence that mortality salience increases reluctance to self-enhance beyond authorities
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Terror management theory converges with system justification theory on the point that maintenance of worldview is the fundamental component of anxiety buffering system and defense mechanisms.
“Terror management theory converges with system justification theory on the point that maintenance of worldview is the fundamental component of anxiety buffering system and defense mechanisms (Landau et al., 2009): “anxiety buffering function” of worldviews proposed by terror management theory (Greenberg et al., 1997, p. 67) and the “palliative function of system justification” proposed by system”
Cites
Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063 · Cited by 32,433 · see citing works
The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud
Freud, S. (1953) · Cited by 17,730 · see citing works
Leadership : Theory and Practice
Northouse, P. G. (2015) · Cited by 5,227 · see citing works
Lord, C. G., Ross, L., & Lepper, M. R. (1979) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.37.11.2098 · Cited by 4,583 · see citing works
Group psychology and the analysis of the ego.
Freud, S. (1922) · Boni and Liveright eBooks · doi:10.1037/11327-000 · Cited by 3,360 · see citing works
The role of stereotyping in system‐justification and the production of false consciousness
Jost, J., & Banaji, M. (1994) · British Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8309.1994.tb01008.x · Cited by 3,259 · see citing works
Thielke, S. M. (2004) · Psychiatric Services · doi:10.1176/appi.ps.55.9.1071 · Cited by 3,066 · see citing works
The Causes and Consequences of a Need for Self-Esteem: A Terror Management Theory
Greenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T., & Solomon, S. (1986) · Public Self and Private Self · doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9564-5_10 · Cited by 2,326 · see citing works
Self-citation(2003) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.40-4918 · Cited by 2,016 · see citing works
Koestler, A. (1968) · PubMed · Cited by 1,789 · see citing works
(2004) · Cited by 1,588 · see citing works
Self-citationGreenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T., Solomon, S., Rosenblatt, A., Veeder, M., Kirkland, S., & Lyon, D. (1990) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.58.2.308 · Cited by 1,412 · see citing works
Self-citationHandbook of motivation science
Shah, J. Y., & Gardner, W. L. (2008) · Cited by 1,404 · see citing works
Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg, J., & Solomon, S. (1999) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.106.4.835 · Cited by 1,390 · see citing works
Self-citationWhy Do People Need Self-Esteem? A Theoretical and Empirical Review.
Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., Arndt, J., & Schimel, J. (2004) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.435 · Cited by 1,367 · see citing works
Self-citationRosenblatt, A., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., Pyszczynski, T., & Lyon, D. (1989) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.57.4.681 · Cited by 1,323 · see citing works
Self-citationLeadership: Theory and Practice
Male, T., & Palaiologou, I. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-34156-5_4 · Cited by 1,201 · see citing works
Contributions to Psychoanalysis
B., M., & Klein, M. (1949) · The American Journal of Psychology · doi:10.2307/1418301 · Cited by 963 · see citing works
(1986) · doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9564-5 · Cited by 849 · see citing works
Landau, M. J., Solomon, S., Greenberg, J., Cohen, F., Pyszczynski, T., Arndt, J., Miller, C. H., Ogilvie, D. M., & Cook, A. (2004) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167204267988 · Cited by 663 · see citing works
Self-citationvan den Bos, K. (2001) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.80.6.931 · Cited by 657 · see citing works
Major, B. (1994) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60156-2 · Cited by 583 · see citing works
Tesser, A., Millar, M. G., & Moore, J. S. (1988) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.54.1.49 · Cited by 545 · see citing works
Efficacy, Agency, and Self-Esteem
Kernis, M. H. (1995) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-1280-0_12 · Cited by 536 · see citing works
Compensatory conviction in the face of personal uncertainty: Going to extremes and being oneself.
McGregor, I., Zanna, M. P., Holmes, J. G., & Spencer, S. J. (2001) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.80.3.472 · Cited by 523 · see citing works
Jost, J. T., & Burgess, D. J. (2000) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167200265003 · Cited by 443 · see citing works
Motivated sensitivity to preference-inconsistent information.
Ditto, P. H., Scepansky, J. A., Munro, G., Apanovitch, A., & Lockhart, L. K. (1998) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.75.1.53 · Cited by 389 · see citing works
(1975) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 383 · see citing works
Perceiving personal discrimination: The role of group status and legitimizing ideology.
Major, B., Gramzow, R. H., McCoy, S. K., Levin, S., Schmader, T., & Sidanius, J. (2002) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.82.3.269 · Cited by 382 · see citing works
Efficacy, agency, and self-esteem
Birtchnell, J. (1996) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/s0191-8869(96)90051-3 · Cited by 354 · see citing works
May, R. (1953) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 308 · see citing works
Subliminal exposure to death-related stimuli increases defense of the cultural worldview
Arndt, J., Greenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T., & Solomon, S. (1997) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1997.tb00429.x · Cited by 297 · see citing works
Self-citationVictim Derogation and Victim Enhancement as Alternate Routes to System Justification
Kay, A. C., Jost, J. T., & Young, S. D. (2005) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.0956-7976.2005.00810.x · Cited by 295 · see citing works
Motivational science : social and personality perspectives
Higgins, E. T., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2000) · Cited by 294 · see citing works
(2013) · Psychology Press eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781410605887 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
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
The Discovery of Being: Writings in Existential Psychology
May, R. (1983) · Cited by 263 · see citing works
van den Bos, K., Poortvliet, P. M., Maas, M., Miedema, J., & van den Ham, E.-J. (2005) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2004.06.001 · Cited by 259 · see citing works
Art and Artist: Creative Urge and Personality Development
Dissanayake, E., Rank, O., & Atkinson, C. F. (1978) · Leonardo · doi:10.2307/1574027 · Cited by 250 · see citing works
Florián, V., & Mikulincer, M. (1997) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.73.2.369 · Cited by 234 · see citing works
Redl, F. (1942) · Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/00332747.1942.11022422 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Optimal distinctiveness, social identity, and the self.
Brewer, M. B. (2003) · Cited by 213 · see citing works
Windows into nothingness: Terror management, meaninglessness, and negative reactions to modern art.
Landau, M. J., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., Pyszczynski, T., & Martens, A. (2006) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.90.6.879 · Cited by 207 · see citing works
Self-citationPyszczynski, T., Wicklund, R. A., Floresku, S., Koch, H., Gauch, G., Solomon, S., & Greenberg, J. (1996) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1996.tb00384.x · Cited by 207 · see citing works
Self-citationWill Therapy and Truth and Reality
Brill, A. A. (1946) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.103.1.136 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
The definition of self: Private and public self-evaluation management strategies.
Tesser, A., & Paulhus, D. (1983) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.44.4.672 · Cited by 203 · see citing works
Will therapy and Truth and reality
Rank, O., & Taft, J. (1945) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 192 · see citing works
Greenberg, J. L., Simon, L., Harmon-Jones, E., Solomon, S., Pyszczynski, T., & Lyon, D. (1995) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.2420250406 · Cited by 191 · see citing works
Self-citationCohen, F., Solomon, S., Maxfield, M., Pyszczynski, T., & Greenberg, J. (2004) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00765.x · Cited by 189 · see citing works
Self-citationThompson, M. M., Naccarato, M. E., Parker, K. C. H., & Moskowitz, G. B. (2013) · Psychology Press eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781410605887-7 · Cited by 188 · see citing works
(2008) · Cited by 181 · see citing works
Self-citationGreenberg, J., Martens, A., Jonas, E., Eisenstadt, D., Pyszczynski, T., & Solomon, S. (2003) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/1467-9280.03454 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
Self-citationTerror management and adults' attachment to their parents: The safe haven remains
Cox, C. R., Arndt, J., Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg, J., Abdollahi, A., & Solomon, S. (2008) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.94.4.696 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Self-citationHirschberger, G. (2006) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.91.5.832 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Arndt, J., Cook, A., & Routledge, C. D. (2004) · ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Simon, L., Greenberg, J., Arndt, J., Pyszczynski, T., Clement, R., & Solomon, S. (1997) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672972310006 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Self-citationContributions to psycho-analysis.
Ferenczi, S. (1916) · Richard G. Badger eBooks · doi:10.1037/10925-000 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Freedom versus fear: On the defense, growth, and expansion of the self.
Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg, J., & Goldenberg, J. L. (2003) · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Self-citationThe ideological animal: A system justification view
Jost, J. T., Fitzsimons, G. M., & Kay, A. (2004) · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Beattie, O., & Geiger, J. W. (1987) · Cited by 49 · see citing works
The “Frozen in Time” Effect in Evaluations of the Dead
Eylon, D., & Allison, S. T. (2005) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167205277806 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
3 of the 64 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Two Decades of Terror Management Theory: A Meta-Analysis of Mortality Salience Research
Burke, B. L., Martens, A., & Faucher, E. H. (2010) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868309352321 · Cited by 1,188 · see citing works
Shepherd, S., Kay, A. C., Landau, M. J., & Keefer, L. A. (2011) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2011.03.026 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Self-citationGreenberg, J., & Kosloff, S. (2008) · Social and Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2008.00144.x · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Self-citationBrandtstädter, J., Rothermund, K., Kranz, D., & Kühn, W. (2010) · European Psychologist · doi:10.1027/1016-9040/a000019 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Experimental Existential Psychology: Coping With the Facts of Life
Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg, J., Koole, S., & Solomon, S. (2010) · Handbook of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/9780470561119.socpsy001020 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Self-citationToward an Integrative Theory of Psychological Defense
Hart, J. (2014) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691613506018 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Stitching time: Vintage consumption connects the past, present, and future
Sarial‐Abi, G., Vohs, K. D., Hamilton, R., & Ulqinaku, A. (2016) · Journal of Consumer Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2016.06.004 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Heflick, N. A., & Goldenberg, J. L. (2011) · British Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8309.2011.02058.x · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Jin, S. V., & Ryu, E. (2022) · Journal of Consumer Affairs · doi:10.1111/joca.12381 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Toward a Comprehensive Understanding of Existential Threat: Insights from Paul Tillich
Sullivan, D., Landau, M. J., & Kay, A. C. (2012) · Social Cognition · doi:10.1521/soco.2012.30.6.734 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Self-citationArndt, J., & Vess, M. (2008) · Social and Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2008.00079.x · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Kosloff, S., Greenberg, J., Sullivan, D., & Weise, D. (2010) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167210374602 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Self-citationFinding everland: Flight fantasies and the desire to transcend mortality
Cohen, F., Sullivan, D., Solomon, S., Greenberg, J., & Ogilvie, D. M. (2010) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.08.013 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Self-citationThe memory remains: How heavy metal fans buffer against the fear of death.
Kneer, J., & Rieger, D. (2015) · Psychology of Popular Media Culture · doi:10.1037/ppm0000072 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
On graves and graven images: A terror management analysis of the psychological functions of art
Landau, M. J., Sullivan, D., & Solomon, S. (2010) · European Review of Social Psychology · doi:10.1080/10463283.2010.513266 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Self-citationDu, H., & Jonas, E. (2014) · Scandinavian Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/sjop.12175 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
A Terror Management Perspective on the Creation and Defense of Meaning
Sullivan, D., Kosloff, S., & Greenberg, J. (2013) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-007-6527-6_2 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Self-citationXiao, Z., Zhao, Y., Zheng, Y., Bao, Y., & Zhang, C. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph191610179 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
The relationship of death anxiety defense mechanisms in terror management theory
Kexin, L. U., Wang, X., & Li, H. (2019) · Advances in Psychological Science · doi:10.3724/sp.j.1042.2019.00344 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
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 · see citing works
Frischlich, L., Rieger, D., Dratsch, T., & Bente, G. (2014) · Journal of Social and Personal Relationships · doi:10.1177/0265407514536305 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Vess, M., Rogers, R., Routledge, C. D., & Hicks, J. A. (2016) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.2192 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Arndt, J. (2012) · American Psychological Association eBooks · doi:10.1037/13748-003 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Subconscious Gatekeeping: The Effect of Death Thoughts on Bias Toward Outgroups in News Writing
Cuillier, D. (2012) · Mass Communication and Society · doi:10.1080/15205436.2011.568317 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Rhead, L. M., Rodriguez, D. N., Korobeynikov, V., Yip, J., & Kovera, M. B. (2015) · Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice · doi:10.1080/15228932.2015.1041362 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
The Magnitude Heuristic: Larger Differences Increase Perceived Causality
Daniels, D. P., & Kupor, D. M. (2022) · Journal of Consumer Research · doi:10.1093/jcr/ucac035 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Leadership and Followership from a Social Cognition Perspective: A Dual Process Account
Brown, D. J. (2012) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195398793.013.0008 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Roylance, C., Abeyta, A. A., Routledge, C. D., & Juhl, J. (2014) · Basic and Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1080/01973533.2014.944312 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Horner, D. E., Sielaff, A., & Greenberg, J. (2022) · Motivation and Emotion · doi:10.1007/s11031-022-09944-3 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationA Hero in the Name of Truth: Mortality Salience Increases Heroic Perceptions of Edward Snowden
Schindler, S., & Reinhard, M. (2015) · International Journal of Psychological Studies · doi:10.5539/ijps.v7n4p43 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Dehşet Yönetimi Kuramı Çerçevesinde Benlik Saygısı ve Bağlanmanın Rolü
Koç, V., & Kafa, G. (2018) · Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry · doi:10.18863/pgy.419330 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
An existential perspective on the need for self-esteem.Preprint
Pyszczynski, T., & Kesebir, P. (2013) · SSRN Electronic Journal · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Tsai, F., Satria, F. B., Chang, T.-F., Chen, Y., Yang, C., & Chen, C. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-22055-6 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Conrad, B. (2009) · Summit (Simon Fraser University) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Illegal immigration and worldview defense: Distaste for human migration in the context of TMT
Bergen, J. M. (2020) · Digital Scholarship - UNLV (University of Nevada Reno) · doi:10.34870/1380948
Leka, G. E. (2015) · ScholarWorks (Walden University)
王格格, Pan, Y., Ren, Q., Zhang, H., & Cao, X. (2026) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs16111973
The impact of mortality salience effects on consumer behaviour
Davidson, A. (2010) · Spectrum Research Repository (Concordia University)
- Authors
- Landau, M. J., Greenberg, J., & Sullivan, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Kansas (US)
- University of Arizona (US)
- Corresponding author
- Landau, Mark J.
- Venue
- Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-01
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 68-79
- ISSN
- 0022-1031 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2046492715
- Cited by
- 38
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 5.35
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Experimental Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- terror management theory, mortality salience, self-enhancement, self-esteem, worldview defense, authority figures, political icon, self-presentation
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review