Terror management theory: Theoretical concepts, experimental research and Critics

Terror management theory (Greenberg, Pyszczynski & Solomon, 1986) considers the desire for survival as the underlying motivation for human behavior. Given his cognitive capacity and ability to think abstractly about the future, man realizes that his death is inevitable, which causes Paralysing terror. Man has developed certain psychological structures to protect himself from this terror. A cultural worldview can create self-esteem which together constitutes the most important psychological defense structures. Terror management theory has tested this notion by making three hypotheses: mortality salience, Death thought accessibility, and anxiety buffer. Against strong research supports, this theory has been criticized. Unfalsifiablity, conflicting findings, alternative explanations, and insensitivity to non-Western languages and cultures are among those criticisms. Finally, it looks like the theory of terror management has pointed to an important matter in human behavior, which will be a strong and attractive theory in psychology after eliminating its shortcomings.