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The contagion of mortality: A terror management health model for pandemics
Open accessAbstract
The novel coronavirus, COVID‐19, proliferates as a contagious psychological threat just like the physical disease itself. Due to the growing death toll and constant coverage this pandemic gets, it is likely to activate mortality awareness, to greater or lesser extents, depending on a variety of situational factors. Using terror management theory and the terror management health model, we outline reactions to the pandemic that consist of proximal defences aimed at reducing perceived vulnerability to (as well as denial of) the threat, and distal defences bound by ideological frameworks from which symbolic meaning can be derived. We provide predictions and recommendations for shifting reactions to this pandemic towards behaviours that decrease, rather than increase, the spread of the virus. We conclude by considering the benefits of shifting towards collective mindsets to more effectively combat COVID‐19 and to better prepare for the next inevitable pandemic.
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“TMT suggests that death anxiety will increase with the threat source, including that of COVID-19 (Courtney et al., 2020).”
From Understanding terror states of online users in the context of COVID-19: An application of Terror Management Theory (2021) · cites this paper as Courtney et al., 2020
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“However, although various conceptual models and discussions based on TMT have been proposed during the COVID-19 era (e.g. see Courtney et al., 2020), there has been no large-scale test of the applicability of TMT in this context using available data.”
From Understanding terror states of online users in the context of COVID-19: An application of Terror Management Theory (2021) · cites this paper as Courtney et al., 2020
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“Winters (2022) also suggested that psychological changes lead to a disruption of one’s physical and mental balance and predisposition to autoimmune diseases, which can have adverse effects on cancer treatment, recovery, and social stability (Grossman et al., 2018; Courtney et al., 2020).”
From Differences in proximal and intimacy-related defense mechanisms among patients with cancer in different psychological stages of dying (2024) · cites this paper as Courtney et al., 2020
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Citations
Cites
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Metadata
- Authors
- Courtney, E. P., Goldenberg, J. L., & Boyd, P.
- Affiliations
- University of South Florida (US)
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Corresponding author
- Courtney, Emily P.
- Venue
- British Journal of Social Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2020-06-17
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 607-617
- ISSN
- 0144-6665 (ISSN-L)
- 2044-8309
- PMC
- PMC7323320
- OpenAlex
- W3035864377
- Cited by
- 124
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 8
- FWCI
- 26.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- British Journal of Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- National Institutes of Health
- National Cancer Institute
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- terror management theory, COVID-19 pandemic, death awareness, psychological threat, ideological frameworks, symbolic meaning, collective mindset, pandemic preparedness, public health behavior
- MeSH terms
- Betacoronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Defense Mechanisms, Denial, Psychological, Fear, Health Promotion, Humans, Pneumonia, Viral, Self Concept, Coronavirus Infections, Risk Reduction Behavior, Health Communication, Pandemics
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