The DOI matches its Crossref record; 54 of the 55 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Focus theory of normative conduct and terror management theory: The interactive impact of mortality salience and norm salience on social judgment
Abstract
Research on terror-management theory has shown that after mortality salience (MS) people attempt to live up to cultural values. But cultures often value very different and sometimes even contradictory standards, leading to difficulties in predicting behavior as a consequence of terror-management needs. The authors report 4 studies to demonstrate that the effect of MS on people's social judgments depends on the salience of norms. In Study 1, making salient opposite norms (prosocial vs. proself) led to reactions consistent with the activated norms following MS compared with the control condition. Study 2 showed that, in combination with a pacifism prime, MS increased pacifistic attitudes. In Study 3, making salient a conservatism/security prime led people to recommend harsher bonds for an illegal prostitute when they were reminded of death, whereas a benevolence prime counteracted this effect. In Study 4 a help prime, combined with MS, increased people's helpfulness. Discussion focuses briefly on how these findings inform both terror-management theory and the focus theory of normative conduct.
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In the citing paper
“Jonas and colleagues (2008) combined TMT with the focus theory of normative conduct (Cialdini et al., 1991), proposing that “the norm that influences action following MS should be the one that is most prominent in consciousness at the moment” (p. 1241).”
From Do Salient Social Norms Moderate Mortality Salience Effects? A (Challenging) Meta-Analysis of Terror Management Studies (2023) · cites this paper as Jonas et al., 2008
In the citing paper
“In line with the focus theory of normative conduct (Cialdini et al., 1991), a substantial body of experimental studies has provided support for the idea that reactions to mortality salience (MS) depend on the salience of social norms”
From Do Salient Social Norms Moderate Mortality Salience Effects? A (Challenging) Meta-Analysis of Terror Management Studies (2023) · cites this paper as Jonas et al., 2008
In the citing paper
“In one experiment, for example, MS increased participants’ pacifistic attitudes but only when the concept of pacifism was first activated through a word-search puzzle manipulation.”
From Do Salient Social Norms Moderate Mortality Salience Effects? A (Challenging) Meta-Analysis of Terror Management Studies (2023) · cites this paper as Jonas et al., 2008
In the citing paper
“A further experiment showed that MS increased participants’ suggested bonds for a woman arrested for illegal prostitution only when the concepts of security and conservatism (vs. benevolence and universalism) had been previously activated.”
From Do Salient Social Norms Moderate Mortality Salience Effects? A (Challenging) Meta-Analysis of Terror Management Studies (2023) · cites this paper as Jonas et al., 2008
In the citing paper
“First, when norms or values promoting positive intergroup attitudes are chronically or situationally accessible, mortality salience can bolster such outcomes (Jonas et al., 2008).”
From Existential threat and responses to emotional displays of ingroup and outgroup members (2023) · cites this paper as Jonas et al., 2008
In the citing paper
“when individuals were reminded of a pacifistic norm, MS increased pacifistic attitudes.”
From When Death is Good for Life: Considering the Positive Trajectories of Terror Management (2012) · cites this paper as Jonas et al., 2008
In the citing paper
“Jonas et al. (2008, Study 4) also found that MS increased helping behavior when participants were reminded of helping norms.”
From When Death is Good for Life: Considering the Positive Trajectories of Terror Management (2012) · cites this paper as Jonas et al., 2008, Study 4
In the citing paper
“Consistent with prior work, MS decreased pacifism when pacifism values were not salient.”
From An Appreciative View of the Brighter Side of Terror Management Processes (2015) · cites this paper as [51]
In the citing paper
“However, when pacifism values were salient, MS increased pacifism.”
From An Appreciative View of the Brighter Side of Terror Management Processes (2015) · cites this paper as [51]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Jonas, E., Martens, A., Niesta Kayser, D., Fritsche, I., Sullivan, D., & Greenberg, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Salzburg (AT)
- University of Canterbury (NZ)
- Friedrich Schiller University Jena (DE)
- University of Arizona (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 2008
- Volume
- 95
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1239-1251
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- OpenAlex
- W2066007425
- Cited by
- 189
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 13.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (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, norm salience, focus theory of normative conduct, social judgment, pacifism, conservatism, security, benevolence, helpfulness, cultural values
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Awareness, Female, Health, Humans, Judgment, Male, Psychological Theory, Self Concept, Social Behavior, Social Behavior Disorders, Social Perception, Terrorism
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