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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
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Terror Mismanagement: Evidence That Mortality Salience Exacerbates Phobic and Compulsive Behaviors

Eric Strachan

University of Washington School of Medicine, erstrach{at}u.washington.edu

Jeff Schimel

University of Alberta

Jamie Arndt

University of Missouri, Columbia

Todd Williams

University of Alberta

Sheldon Solomon

Skidmore College

Tom Pyszczynski

University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Jeff Greenberg

University of Arizona

Terror management theory (TMT) posits that cultural worldviews and self-esteem function to buffer humans from mortality-related anxiety. TMT research has shown that important behaviors are influenced by mortality salience (MS) even when they have no obvious connection to death. However, there has been no attempt to investigate TMT processes in anxious responding. The present research examines that question. In Study 1, compared to a control condition, MS increased anxious responding to spider-related stimuli, but only for participants who met criteria for specific phobia. In Study 2, compared to an aversive control condition, MS increased time spent washing hands, but only for those scoring high on a measure of compulsive hand washing (CHW). In Study 3, compared to a different aversive control condition, MS increased avoidance of a social interaction, but only for those scoring high on a measure of social interaction anxiety. The relevance of TMT in anxious responding is discussed.

Key Words: terror management theory • anxiety • specific phobia • obsessive-compulsive disorder • social anxiety

This version was published on August 1, 2007

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 33, No. 8, 1137-1151 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167207303018
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