Article2006

Terror management and attributions of blame to innocent victims: Reconciling compassionate and defensive responses.

118 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Personality and Social Psychology

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Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion Social and Intergroup Psychology Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment

Abstract

In this article, 4 studies test the hypothesis that reminders of personal death bias the normative attribution process and increase the motivation to blame severely injured, innocent victims. In Studies 1 and 2, primes of death led to greater attributions of blame to severely injured victims but did not significantly influence attributions of blame to either mildly injured victims or negatively portrayed others. In Study 3, primes of death led to greater attributions of blame to victims of circumstance but did not influence attributions of blame to victims who were explicitly responsible for their condition. In Study 4, innocent victims who were severely injured elicited more death-related cognitions than did victims who were responsible for their condition or who were only mildly injured. These findings indicate that the predictions of normative models of attribution may be moderated, and even overturned, when observers are reminded of their personal death such that defensive needs override rational inferential processes.

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References

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Cited by

2010Experimental Existential Psychology 2013Destined to die but not to wage war: How existential threat can contribute to escalation or de-escalation of violent intergroup conflict.2012Terror management theory: From genesis to revelations.2015Delay and Death-Thought Accessibility 2017The Motivational Underpinnings of Belief in God 2016How Is Wishful Seeing Like Wishful Thinking?2019

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