Advanced search
Publication Cover
The Humanistic Psychologist Volume 42, 2014 - Issue 1
Journal homepage
761
Views
70
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
ARTICLES

A Terror Management Perspective on the Role of Death-Related Anxiety in Psychological Dysfunction

Molly Maxfield University of Colorado, Colorado SpringsCorrespondence[email protected]
,
Samantha John University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
&
Tom Pyszczynski University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Pages 35-53 | Published online: 13 Mar 2014

Citations (70)

Keep up to date with the latest research on this topic with citation updates for this article.

Subscribe to citation updates

Read on this site (10)

Daryl R. Van Tongeren, C. Nathan DeWall, Don E. Davis & Joshua N. Hook. (2023) Intellectual humility and existentially relevant moral decisions. The Journal of Positive Psychology 18:3, pages 363-369.
Read now
Dane Easden, Caroline Gurvich, Ryan A. Kaplan & Susan L. Rossell. (2023) Exploring fear of death and psychosis proneness: positive schizotypy as a function of death anxiety and maladaptive coping. Clinical Psychologist 27:1, pages 35-44.
Read now
Daniel Spitzenstätter & Tatjana Schnell. (2022) The existential dimension of the pandemic: Death attitudes, personal worldview, and coronavirus anxiety. Death Studies 46:5, pages 1031-1041.
Read now
Matteo Zuccala, Rachel E. Menzies, Caroline J. Hunt & Maree J. Abbott. (2022) A systematic review of the psychometric properties of death anxiety self-report measures. Death Studies 46:2, pages 257-279.
Read now
Jessica Blower & Rachael Sharman. (2021) To grieve or not to grieve (online)? Interactions with deceased Facebook friends. Death Studies 45:3, pages 167-181.
Read now
Salvacion Laguilles-Villafuerte & Allan B. de Guzman. (2020) “Because I could not stop for death”: phenomenologizing death anxiety among Filipino Older adults. Educational Gerontology 46:12, pages 806-815.
Read now
Yoav S. Bergman & Ehud Bodner. (2020) Age is not just a number: age awareness, subjective nearness-to-death, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms among older adults. Aging & Mental Health 24:6, pages 906-913.
Read now
David J. Herr & Erin M. Buchanan. (2020) Generativity and other buffers of death awareness in first responders. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping 33:2, pages 193-206.
Read now
Mahmoud Azadi, Abbas Ali Haratiyan, Ali Fathi-Ashtiani, Masoud Janbozorgi, Zahra Pakdaman Shabestari & Ali Abbas Zadeh. (2019) The development and validation of a Fear of Death Scale based on the cognitive approach of Avicenna. Mental Health, Religion & Culture 22:6, pages 563-574.
Read now
Emma C. Finch, Lisa Iverach, Ross G. Menzies & Mark Jones. (2016) Terror mismanagement: evidence that mortality salience exacerbates attentional bias in social anxiety. Cognition and Emotion 30:7, pages 1370-1379.
Read now

Articles from other publishers (60)

Ayça GÜRBÜZ & Orçun YORULMAZ. (2024) Death Anxiety in Psychopathology: A Systematic ReviewPsikopatolojide Ölüm Kaygısı: Sistematik Derleme. Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar 16:1, pages 159-174.
Crossref
Kun Wang, Zhaoyang Sun, Yubo Hou & Mengchan Yuan. (2023) Coping with mortality salience: the role of connection thinking and afterlife beliefs in Chinese context. Frontiers in Psychology 14.
Crossref
Peter K. H. Chew, Bryan Danni, Shi Yi Koh & Gracie M. S. Tay. (2023) Terror Management: The Effects of Mortality Salience on Desire for Money Among Singaporeans. Journal of Humanistic Psychology.
Crossref
José J. Pizarro, Huseyin Cakal, Lander Méndez, Larraitz N. Zumeta, Marcela Gracia‐Leiva, Nekane Basabe, Ginés Navarro‐Carrillo, Ana‐Maria Cazan, Saeed Keshavarzi, Wilson López‐López, Illia Yahiiaiev, Carolina Alzugaray‐Ponce, Loreto Villagrán, Emilio Moyano‐Díaz, Nebojša Petrović, Anderson Mathias, Elza M. Techio, Anna Wlodarczyk, Laura Alfaro‐Beracoechea, Manuel L. Ibarra, Andreas Michael, Sumeet Mhaskar, Gonzalo Martínez‐Zelaya, Marian Bilbao, Gisela Delfino, Catarina L. Carvalho, Isabel R. Pinto, Falak Zehra Mohsin, Agustín Espinosa, Rosa María Cueto, Stefano Cavalli, Silvia da Costa, Alberto Amutio, Itziar Alonso‐Arbiol & Darío Páez. (2023) Sociopolitical consequences of COVID‐19 in the Americas, Europe, and Asia: A multilevel, multicountry investigation of risk perceptions and support for antidemocratic practices. Political Psychology.
Crossref
Seher Serez Öztürk, İsmet Esra Çiçek & İbrahim Eren. (2021) Death Anxiety and Related Factors in Schizophrenia Patients: Controlled Study. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying 87:4, pages 1048-1062.
Crossref
Daniele Scarpi, Eleonora Pantano & Davit Marikyan. (2023) Consumers' (ir)responsible shopping during emergencies: drivers and concerns. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management 51:6, pages 791-806.
Crossref
Davit Marikyan, Eleonora Pantano & Daniele Scarpi. (2023) Should I stay or should I go? Benefits of crowd-checking technology for a face-to-face shopping experience. Spanish Journal of Marketing - ESIC 27:1, pages 20-38.
Crossref
Mahdi Rezapour & F. Richard Ferraro. (2023) The Associations Between Death Anxiety, Supernatural Beliefs, Caring for Loved Ones and Attachments. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, pages 003022282311695.
Crossref
Emily L Mroz, Joan K Monin, Joseph E Gaugler, Tara D Matta-Singh & Terri R Fried. (2023) Rewriting the Story of Mid- and Late-Life Family Caregiving: Applying a Narrative Identity Framework. The Gerontologist.
Crossref
Ehud Bodner, Yoav S. Bergman, Sagit Shiloh-Levin & Yaakov S. G. Hoffman. (2021) The interactive effect of aging anxiety and age awareness on meaning in life and psychological distress: a moderated mediation model. Current Psychology 42:10, pages 8255-8264.
Crossref
Rachel E. Menzies & Ross G. Menzies. (2023) Death anxiety and mental health: Requiem for a dreamer. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry 78, pages 101807.
Crossref
Helena Kukla, Angélique Herrler, Julia Strupp & Raymond Voltz. (2022) “My life became more meaningful”: confronting one’s own end of life and its effects on well-being—a qualitative study. BMC Palliative Care 21:1.
Crossref
Michael Worrell. 2022. CBT and Existential Psychology. CBT and Existential Psychology 298 316 .
S Mudasser Shah, Taipeng Sun, Wei Xu, Wenhao Jiang & Yonggui Yuan. (2022) The mental health of China and Pakistan, mental health laws and COVID-19 mental health policies: a comparative review. General Psychiatry 35:5, pages e100885.
Crossref
Jin-Hee Woo & Sung-Man Bae. (2022) The Association Between Depression and Death Anxiety Among Older Adults: Moderating Effect of Ego-Integrity. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, pages 003022282211155.
Crossref
Pinar Dursun, Pinar Alyagut & Itır Yılmaz. (2022) Meaning in life, psychological hardiness and death anxiety: individuals with or without generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Current Psychology 41:6, pages 3299-3317.
Crossref
Lindsey A. Harvell-Bowman, Kenneth L. Critchfield, Fabrice Ndzana, Eliza Stucker, Christina Yocca, Kezziah Wilgus, Amanda Hurst & Kelsey Sullivan. (2022) Of Love and Death: Death Anxiety, Attachment, and Suicide as Experienced by College Students. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, pages 003022282211006.
Crossref
Therese C. F. Willoch & Mark R. McDermott. (2020) Psychological Predictors of Mortality Awareness: Time Perspective, Contentment With Age and Paternal Antipathy and Neglect. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying 85:1, pages 225-245.
Crossref
Stephen Waite, Philip Hyland, Kate M. Bennett, Richard P. Bentall & Mark Shevlin. (2022) Testing alternative models and predictive utility of the Death Anxiety Inventory-Revised: A COVID-19 related longitudinal population based study. Acta Psychologica 225, pages 103539.
Crossref
Rachel E. Verin, Rachel E. Menzies & Ross G. Menzies. (2021) OCD, death anxiety, and attachment: what’s love got to do with it?. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy 50:2, pages 131-141.
Crossref
Eleonora Pantano & Kim WillemsEleonora Pantano & Kim Willems. 2022. Retail in a New World. Retail in a New World 29 41 .
Matteo Zuccala & Rachel E. Menzies. 2022. Existential Concerns and Cognitive-Behavioral Procedures. Existential Concerns and Cognitive-Behavioral Procedures 57 73 .
İsmet Esra ÇİÇEK. (2021) Alkol Kullanım Bozukluğu Olan Hastalarda Ölüm Anksiyetesi ve İntihar DüşüncesiDeath Anxiety and Suicidal Ideation in Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder. Bağımlılık Dergisi 22:4, pages 413-420.
Crossref
Helena Kukla, Angélique Herrler, Julia Strupp & Raymond Voltz. (2021) The effects of confronting one’s own end of life on older individuals and those with a life-threatening disease: A systematic literature review. Palliative Medicine 35:10, pages 1793-1814.
Crossref
Himanshu Singla, Minakshi Duggal Mehta & Pooja Mehta. (2021) Manifesting hope in despair: Exploring prosocial behavioural outcomes of COVID‐19. International Social Science Journal 71:S1, pages 51-67.
Crossref
Judith E. Appel & Els J. van Wijngaarden. (2021) Older Adults Who Experience Their Lives to Be Completed and No Longer Worth Living: A Systematic Mini-Review Into Used Terminology, Definitions, and Interpretations. Frontiers in Psychology 12.
Crossref
Yuan Yuan Liu, Kai Li, Ting Bin, Jian Feng Tan, Zhen Dong Wang, Jia Xi Wang & He Yong Shen. (2021) Psychological symptoms and the use of shadow miniatures in sandplay therapy. The Arts in Psychotherapy 75, pages 101834.
Crossref
Maya Kagan. (2020) Social Support Moderates the Relationship Between Death Anxiety and Psychological Distress Among Israeli Nurses. Psychological Reports 124:4, pages 1502-1514.
Crossref
Matteo Zuccala & Maree J. Abbott. (2021) Social Anxiety Disorder and the Fear of Death: An Empirical Investigation of the Terror Management Approach towards Understanding Clinical Anxiety. Cognitive Therapy and Research 45:4, pages 628-641.
Crossref
Uriel Abulof, Shirley Le Penne & Bonan Pu. (2021) The pandemic politics of existential anxiety: Between steadfast resistance and flexible resilience. International Political Science Review 42:3, pages 350-366.
Crossref
Yanping Liu & Gertina J. van Schalkwyk. (2020) Constructing a hero–victim identity through reminiscing: a phenomenological study on rural Chinese elders. Ageing and Society 41:6, pages 1328-1348.
Crossref
Desmond Uchechukwu Onu, Chuka Mike Ifeagwazi & JohnBosco Chika Chukwuorji. (2020) Does Posttraumatic Growth Buffer the Association Between Death Anxiety and Quality of Life Among People living with HIV/AIDS?. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings 28:2, pages 229-238.
Crossref
Wendy Wen Li, Yahong Li, Huizhen Yu, Dan J. Miller, Christopher Rouen & Fang Yang. (2021) Mental Health of Chinese People During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Associations With Infection Severity of Region of Residence and Filial Piety. Frontiers in Psychology 12.
Crossref
Marissa A. Pifer, Olivia Noel & Daniel L. Segal. 2021. Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging 1308 1314 .
Ali Mohammadzadeh & Mohammad Oraki. (2018) Attachment to God as a predictor of death distress among Muslims. Current Psychology 39:6, pages 2314-2319.
Crossref
Małgorzata Szcześniak & Celina Timoszyk-Tomczak. (2020) Religious Struggle and Life Satisfaction Among Adult Christians: Self-esteem as a Mediator. Journal of Religion and Health 59:6, pages 2833-2856.
Crossref
Anna E. Kornadt, Eva-Marie Kessler, Susanne Wurm, Catherine E. Bowen, Martina Gabrian & Verena Klusmann. (2019) Views on ageing: a lifespan perspective. European Journal of Ageing 17:4, pages 387-401.
Crossref
Mohammad Hassan DavazdahemamiAbolfazl BayramiJulie M. PetersenMichael P. TwohigMaryam BakhtiyariMohammad NooriAli Kheradmand. (2020) Preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy for death anxiety in Iranian clients diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic 84:Supplement A, pages 1-11.
Crossref
Rachel E. Menzies, Matteo Zuccala, Louise Sharpe & Ilan Dar-Nimrod. (2020) Subtypes of obsessive-compulsive disorder and their relationship to death anxiety. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders 27, pages 100572.
Crossref
IpKin Anthony Wong & Fiona X. Yang. (2020) A quarantined lodging stay: The buffering effect of service quality. International Journal of Hospitality Management 91, pages 102655.
Crossref
Zachary K. RothschildJulianna HauriLucas A. Keefer. (2020) Specific Phobias: Maintaining Control in the Face of Chaotic Threats. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 39:5, pages 383-418.
Crossref
Kenneth E. VailIIIIIIDavid E. ReedIIIIElizabeth A. GoncyTalea CorneliusDonald Edmondson. (2020) Anxiety Buffer Disruption: Self-Evaluation, Death Anxiety, and Stressor Appraisals Among Low and High Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Samples. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 39:5, pages 353-382.
Crossref
Mario MikulincerUri LifshinPhillip R. Shaver. (2020) Towards an Anxiety-Buffer Disruption Approach to Depression: Attachment Anxiety and Worldview Threat Heighten Death-Thought Accessibility and Depression-Related Feelings. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 39:4, pages 238-273.
Crossref
Natalie Turner. (2020) Summer research placement: Death anxiety. Psych-Talk 1:95, pages 21-23.
Crossref
Sam G. Moreton, Luke Szalla, Rachel E. Menzies & Andrew F. Arena. (2019) Embedding existential psychology within psychedelic science: reduced death anxiety as a mediator of the therapeutic effects of psychedelics. Psychopharmacology 237:1, pages 21-32.
Crossref
Ehud Bodner & Yoav S. Bergman. (2019) The Utility of a Positive Body Image Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults Who Perceive Death to Be Near and Fear It. Research on Aging 41:8, pages 751-771.
Crossref
Kenneth E. VailIIIIIIEmily P. CourtneyElizabeth A. GoncyTalea CorneliusDonald Edmondson. (2019) Anxiety Buffer Disruption: Relationship Threat, Death Anxiety, and Coping Appraisals Among Low and High Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Samples. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 38:6, pages 501-521.
Crossref
Saurabh Maheshwari & Tuheena Mukherjee. (2017) Role of Social Detachment in Coping With Death Anxiety. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying 79:2, pages 191-217.
Crossref
Noel Hunter & Tristan V. Barsky. (2016) Transactional Experiences of Existential Anxiety as a Barrier to Effective Humanistic Intervention. Journal of Humanistic Psychology 59:2, pages 185-210.
Crossref
Andrea M. Yetzer & Tom Pyszczynski. 2019. Handbook of Terror Management Theory. Handbook of Terror Management Theory 417 447 .
Marissa A. Pifer, Olivia Noel & Daniel L. Segal. 2019. Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging 1 7 .
Birgit M. aan de Stegge, Lineke M. Tak, Judith G.M. Rosmalen & Richard C. Oude Voshaar. (2018) Death anxiety and its association with hypochondriasis and medically unexplained symptoms: A systematic review. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 115, pages 58-65.
Crossref
Crystal L. Park & Login S. George. (2018) Lab- and Field-Based Approaches to Meaning Threats and Restoration: Convergences and Divergences. Review of General Psychology 22:1, pages 73-84.
Crossref
Leah Curran, Louise Sharpe & Phyllis Butow. (2017) Anxiety in the context of cancer: A systematic review and development of an integrated model. Clinical Psychology Review 56, pages 40-54.
Crossref
Kristina M. Le Marne & Lynne M. Harris. (2017) Death Anxiety, Perfectionism and Disordered Eating. Behaviour Change 33:4, pages 193-211.
Crossref
Yaira Hamama-Raz, Michal Mahat-Shamir, Shani Pitcho-Prelorentzos, Adi Zaken, Udi Y. David, Menachem Ben-Ezra & Yoav S. Bergman. (2016) The link between death anxiety and post-traumatic symptomatology during terror: Direct links and possible moderators. Psychiatry Research 245, pages 379-386.
Crossref
Jun (Justin) Li, IpKin Anthony Wong & Woo Gon Kim. (2016) Effects of psychological contract breach on attitudes and performance: The moderating role of competitive climate. International Journal of Hospitality Management 55, pages 1-10.
Crossref
Ehud Bodner, Amit Shrira, Yoav S. Bergman, Sara Cohen-Fridel & Ephraim S. Grossman. (2015) The interaction between aging and death anxieties predicts ageism. Personality and Individual Differences 86, pages 15-19.
Crossref
Ehud Bodner, Amit Shrira, Yoav S. Bergman & Sara Cohen-Fridel. (2015) Anxieties about aging and death and psychological distress: The protective role of emotional complexity. Personality and Individual Differences 83, pages 91-96.
Crossref
Lisa Iverach, Ross G. Menzies & Rachel E. Menzies. (2014) Death anxiety and its role in psychopathology: Reviewing the status of a transdiagnostic construct. Clinical Psychology Review 34:7, pages 580-593.
Crossref

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Order Reprints Request Corporate Permissions

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

Request Academic Permissions

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.

Related research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.