The Appeal of Tragedy: A Terror Management Perspective
Abstract
The experiment reported in this article assessed the terror management explanation of the appeal of tragedy. From this perspective, vicarious experience of tragedy, such as through film and literature, provides a safe way of approaching the fear associated with one's own mortality. Thus, we hypothesized that reminding participants of their mortality would increase liking for and emotional response to a tragic excerpt from a novel. Participants were randomly assigned to answer open-ended questions about either their own death or a neutral topic and then read two excerpts from Ernest Hemingway novels, one tragic and one nontragic in content. In support of the terror management hypothesis, participants in the mortality salience condition responded more emotionally to, and were more touched by, the tragic excerpt, found the nontragic excerpt less enjoyable, and cared less for the female character in the nontragic passage than did the control participants.
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When mortality is salient, individuals are particularly likely to appreciate a meaningful film, especially if they highly value search for meaning in life, and to respond emotionally to a tragic literary excerpt.
“there is evidence that when mortality is salient, individuals are particularly likely to appreciate a meaningful film (Rieger, Frischlich, Hö gden, Kauf, Schramm, & Tappe, 2015), notably if they highly evaluated search for meaning in life (Hofer, 2013), and to respond emotionally to a tragic literary excerpt (Goldenberg, Pyszczynski, Johnson, Greenberg, & Solomon, 1999).”
From An Integrative Terror Management Theory Perspective on Media Effects: A Model and 12 Hypotheses for Research (2016) · cites this paper as Goldenberg et al., 1999
Cites
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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-citationToward a self‐evaluation maintenance model of social behavior
Tesser, A. (1988) · Advances in Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60227-0 · Cited by 1,878 · see citing works
Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., & Pyszczynski, T. (1997) · Advances in Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60016-7 · Cited by 1,505 · 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-citationSolomon, S., Greenberg, J., & Pyszczynski, T. (1991) · Advances in Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60328-7 · Cited by 1,296 · see citing works
Self-citationThe opponent-process theory of acquired motivation: the costs of pleasure and the benefits of pain
Solomon, R. L. (1980) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.35.8.691 · Cited by 1,194 · see citing works
Greenberg, J., Simon, L., Pyszczynski, T., Solomon, S., & Chatel, D. (1992) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.63.2.212 · Cited by 487 · see citing works
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Hofer, M. (2013) · Journal of Media Psychology · doi:10.1027/1864-1105/a000089 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Perloff, R. M. (2016) · Studies in Media and Communication · doi:10.11114/smc.v4i1.1600 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
- Authors
- Goldenberg, J. L., Pyszczynski, T., Johnson, K. D., Greenberg, J., & Solomon, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Colorado Colorado Springs (US)
- Skidmore College (US)
- Venue
- Media Psychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 1999-12
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 313-329
- ISSN
- 1521-3269 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-785X
- OpenAlex
- W2068873472
- Cited by
- 64
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Media Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Digital Commons - University of South Florida (University of South Florida) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Media Influence and Health
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Aesthetic Perception and Analysis
- Keywords
- terror management theory, mortality salience, tragedy, vicarious experience, emotional response to fiction, Ernest Hemingway, character identification, fear of death, film and literature
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