A plutocracy or plutarchy is a society that is ruled or controlled by people of great wealth or income. The first known use of the term in English dates from 1631. Unlike systems such as democracy, capitalism, socialism or anarchism, plutocracy is not rooted in an established political philosophy.More at Wikipedia
In a “plutonomy”, according to Citigroup global strategist Ajay Kapur, economic growth is powered by and largely consumed by the wealthy few.
“Meritocracy, in contemporary parlance, refers to the idea that whatever our social position at birth, society ought to facilitate the means for ‘talent’ to ‘rise to the top’. this article argues that the ideology of ‘meritocracy’ has become a key means through which plutocracy is endorsed by stealth within contemporary neoliberal culture. the article attempts to analyse the term ‘meritocracy’, to open up understandings of its genealogy, and to comprehend its current use. it does so through three sections. the first section considers what might be wrong with the notion of meritocracy. the second traces some key points in the travels of the concept within and around academic social theory, moving from alan fox and michael young’s initial, disparaging use of the term in the 1950s, to daniel bell’s approving adoption of the concept in the 1970s, and on to its take-up by neoconservative think tanks in the 1980s. the third section analyses the use of meritocracy as a plank of neoliberal political rhetoric and public discourse. it focuses on the resonance of the term in relatively recent british culture, discussing how what it terms ‘meritocratic feeling’ has come to operate in david cameron’s ‘aspiration nation’. this final section argues that meritocracy has become a potent blend of an essentialised and exclusionary notion of ‘talent’, competitive individualism and the need for social mobility. today it is a discourse which predominantly works to marketise the very idea of equality”
Reiner, R.. (2013). Who governs? Democracy, plutocracy, science and prophecy in policing. Criminology and Criminal Justice
“This article critically analyses two key debates about police and policing: the problematic definition of their role, and how they can be rendered democratically accountable. both issues have been radically altered through the profound transformation of policing produced by the last three decades of neo-liberal hegemony. the article focuses on how this has developed in england and wales, although there are parallels with other jurisdictions. the complex role of the police has been distilled down to criminal catching. accountability has become accountancy, under the auspices of new public management. the current british coalition government’s tendentious ‘austerity’ measures make these perennial problems especially acute. the coalition purports to be democratizing police accountability through elected police and crime commissioners. these claims are critically analysed in principle, but how they work out in practice is hard to prophesy. it is suggested they may play out in ways that frustrate their architects’ hopes, due to the continuing baleful consequences of neoliberalism.”
“This essay explores the linkages between economic inequality, political inequality, and money in politics. said another way, it explores the linkages between thomas piketty, gilens & page, and campaign finance law. it argues that the u.s. supreme court has constructed and justified a new form of government called plutocracy. campaign finance cases from buckley (1976) to mccutcheon (2014) contain a series of constitutional principles that serve to increase political inequality and economic inequality. those constitutional principles also serve as the ‘apparatus of justification’ sought by piketty, the justifications for inequality that might allow today’s state of affairs to endure. this essay exposes those constitutional principles and their relationship to works by piketty, gilens, and page. it also contains a summary of some key points from my book, capitalism v. democracy (stanford university press 2014).”
Ashford, R.. (2010). Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom: A Binary Economic Critique. Journal of Economic Issues
“This article presents a binary economic critique of milton friedman’s thesis that a competitive, free market, private enterprise, capitalist system is an essential condition for freedom. after identifying deficiencies in friedman’s understanding of private property and economics, this article explains how a market economy based on friedman’s flawed understanding concentrates economic power in a plutocracy, perpetuates chronic underemployment of labor and capital, and suppresses the freedom of most people. it advances a ‘binary economic approach’ to create a more productive and democratic market system characterized by greater, more sustainable, and more widely-distributed prosperity, economic power, and individual freedom than prevails in any existing capitalist economy.”
Macvarish, J.. (2014). The politics of parenting. In Parenting Culture Studies
“Since the 1960s, when corporate liberalism entered the lexicon of the american left, historians and cultural critics have tended to present the rise of corporate capitalism (ca. 1890-1940) as a tragedy in two acts. in the first act, subaltern social movements finally succumb to the powers of a specifically corporate plutocracy-here we witness the eclipse of pop- ulism, the ‘fall of the house of labor,’ and the ‘decline of popular poli- tics.’ in the second act, accordingly, the proletarianization of freeholders, small producers, and skilled craftsmen is completed and, under the man- agerial auspices of the large industrial corporations, the ‘reification’ of all social relations is effected. in this narrative form, the twentieth century must appear as the nonheroic residue of tragedy, the stuff of satire”
Green, R. T.. (2012). Plutocracy, Bureaucracy, and the End of Public Trust. Administration and Society
“This article examines the relationship between income concentration and policy outputs that determine the generosity of two major state-level safety net programs: unemployment insurance and cash social assistance. using a difference in differences framework, it tests the degree to which the top 1 percent share is associated with benefit replacement rates for these programs during the period 1978–2010. the results suggest that higher state income inequality lowers those states’ welfare benefits significantly in ways consistent with a ‘plutocracy’ hypothesis that has been suggested in work by scholars such as bartels, bonica, gilens, and page. the results are robust to controls for several alternative explanations for benefit generosity, including citizen ideology, party control of government, fiscal pressure on programs, state racial heterogeneity, and public opinion liberalism. the results thus support the notion that growing income concentration at the very top undermines social protection policies.”
Morris, W.. (1883). Art under Plutocracy
Show/hide publication abstract
“Este trabajo presenta un novedoso enfoque de programación lineal posibilístico interactiva (plp) para resolver el multiproducto planificación de la producción agregada (app) problema con la demanda imprecisa pronóstico, los costos de operación relacionados, y la capacidad. el enfoque propuesto intenta minimizar los costos totales con referencia a los niveles de inventario, los niveles de trabajo, las horas extraordinarias, los niveles de subcontratación, pedidos pendientes, el trabajo, la máquina y la capacidad del almacén. el enfoque propuesto utiliza la estrategia de minimizar al mismo tiempo la mayor parte posible valor de los costes totales imprecisos, lo que maximiza la posibilidad de obtener menores costos totales, y reducir al mínimo el riesgo de obtener mayores costos totales. un caso industrial demuestra la viabilidad de aplicar el enfoque propuesto para los problemas de decisión reales app. en consecuencia, el enfoque propuesto plp se obtiene una solución de compromiso app eficiente y grado total de tomador de decisiones (dm) satisfacción con los valores del objetivo determinados. en particular, se presentan varias implicaciones significativas de gestión y características del enfoque propuesto plp que lo distinguen de los otros modelos de decisión app.”
Guédon, J. C.. (2003). Open Access Archives: From scientific plutocracy to the republic of science. IFLA Journal
“Version publiée d’un exposé présenté à l’occasion d’une journée d’étude de la section des bibliothèques universitaires et des bibliothèques générales de recherche de l’Ifla (international federation of library associations and institutions) lors de la 68ème conférence annuelle de l’Ifla, tenue à glasgow, ecosse, 18-24 août 2002. cet exposé prend pour argument le fait que la quête scientifique de connaissances fondamentales sur la nature a été supplantée par la volonté de contrôler les connaissances scientifiques elles-mêmes et de limiter leur accès à une minorité privilégiée. l’augmentation excessive des tarifs d’abonnement aux magazines scientifiques et le développement des systèmes d’obtention de licence ont considérablement réduit la propriété des connaissances scientifiques publiées ainsi que l’accès à ces connaissances et les formes acceptables d’utilisation de ces connaissances. les organismes de recherche les plus pauvres, en particulier dans les pays les plus démunis, ont été tenus à l’écart du circuit scientifique et condamnés à une forme marginale d’existence. l’auteur réexamine les méthodes d’évaluation utilisées par diverses communautés scientifiques, en se concentrant plus particulièrement sur les publications scientifiques. il estime que les méthodes d’évaluation mises en place par les magazines scientifiques, y compris ceux publiés par des entreprises commerciales, ne servent ni les sciences ni la recherche de façon optimale. le quasi-monopole exercé sur l’évaluation scientifique par de grandes maisons d’édition commerciales explique en partie leur capacité à manipuler les prix. la création d’archives d’accès libre assorties d’un système d’évaluation pourrait contribuer à restaurer la ’République des sciences’ et concurrencer véritablement l’édition commerciale. l’auteur suggère une structure à trois niveaux pour des archives institutionnelles librement accessibles conformément au règlement de l’Initiative pour la liberté d’accès aux connaissances.”
Alterman, E.. (2015). Invisible Plutocracy.. Nation
“We investigate the role of ‘noise’ shocks as a source of business cycle fluctuations. to do so we set up a simple model of imperfect information and derive restrictions for identifying the noise shock in a var model. the novelty of our approach is that identification is reached by means of dynamic rotations of the reduced form residuals. we find that noise shocks generate hump-shaped responses of gdp, consumption and investment and account for quite a sizable fraction of their prediction error variance at business cycle horizons.”
Amin, S.. (2008). “Market Economy” or Oligopoly-Finance Capitalism?. Monthly Review: An Independent Socialist Magazine
“The article explores the specific characteristics of capitalism as a system based on private ownership of the means of production. it considers the social and political conflicts within the specific conditions pertaining to each of the phases of the concrete history of actually existing capitalism. it is inferred that the hegemonic power of oligopoly-finance capital is such that it enters into competition with and counterposes its own interests to the state. also discussed are the quantitative indicators which give an idea of the extent of domination of the financial plutocracy of the u.s., europe and japan over the world economy.”
Kuhner, T. K.. (2015). The Corruption of Liberal and Social Democracies. SSRN
“Thomas piketty repeats throughout capital in the twenty-first century that today’s levels of inequality are not inevitable, much less natural, and has connected the state of democracy worldwide to rising economic inequality. wealth transfers from the state to the private sector, wealth transfers from labor to capital, and tax laws favorable to the concentration of wealth require that the participatory and representative facets of democracy be kept in check. beyond suitable material conditions, the growth and maintenance of inequality necessitates a justificatory ideology. this article explores the possibility that the laws of political finance can help connect the dots. legal patterns in the financing of campaigns and political parties point to two distinct forms of oligarchy in play: plutocracy, representing the decay of liberal democracy, and partyocracy, representing the decay of social democracy. together, these legal forms of corruption appear to have co-opted democracy’s values and outputs, paving the way for neoliberalism. this article focuses on plutocracy, the form of corruption most affecting the united states at present.”
Finbow, R. G.. (2016). Restructuring the State through Economic and Trade Agreements: The Case of Investment Disputes Resolution. Politics and Governance
This essay will examine the emergence of transnational governance via supranational economic agreements which promote global imposition of liberalizing policies in the interests of transnational investors. the stalled multilateral world trade organization (wto) process has given way to a plethora of regional and bilateral economic agreements covering a range of new issues—investment, intellectual property, services, and regulations—which trench ever more deeply on domestic decision-making. informed by phillip cerny’s conception of ‘competition states’, colin crouch’s (2000) lament about ‘post-democracy’, carroll and sapinski’s analysis of ‘global corporate elites’, and david held’s depiction of ‘global governance complexes’, the essay will examine the role of transnational corporate and institutional elites in advancing economic agreements which narrow the scope for democratic governance. these authors depict the combination of constraint and empowerment of states induced by these transnational agreements which force most liberal democracies to cut or tweak programs and regulations in economic and social fields to protect investor rights, while boosting restraints on citizens in areas like intellectual property—what cerny (1997) calls the ‘paradox’ of the competition state. given the number and complexity of these transnational governance arrangements, this essay will focus on the transnational constraints of investor state arbitration and disputes settlement systems. this will be illustrated by examining the growth of investor disputes settlement claims in bilateral treaties and major european and north american economic agreements and the rise of arbitration cases which impose costs on states for violations of investor rights. the essay considers the implications of these new forms of transnational governance for democratic governments’ responsive to popular demands. it concludes by suggesting the need for revisions to theories of the democratic state, which may be morphing into pluralistic plutocracy.
”
Saith, A.. (2011). Inequality, Imbalance, Instability: Reflections on a Structural Crisis. Development and Change
“ABSTRACT globalization has been accompanied by worsening inequality within core countries of global accumulation processes, as exemplified by china and the usa, where income and wealth inequalities have regained the stratospheric heights of the 1920s. in parallel, there are significantly diverging life chances for the rich and the poor. extreme inequalities are deemed intrinsically toxic due to their potential for the subversion of regulatory and accountability institutions, the corrosion of societal norms, and the quality of democracy. the present conjuncture of crises provides credible evidence that inequality, especially extreme inequality, is not just a contextual feature or a downstream outcome issue, but a crucial upstream, causal factor in the pathology of the financial meltdown. this article introduces contributions elaborating causal pathologies connecting inequality, imbalances and instability, emphasizing the centrality of global interdependence. beyond surviving the crisis through assorted fiscal stimuli packages of emergency resuscitation and life support, there are deeper structural policy issues to consider. the crisis briefly opened up democratic space for short-term protective, and long-term corrective interventions. however, this space was equally quickly shut down again, as the political and financial establishment resisted yielding permanent ground: witness the return to fiscal conservatism, the revival of the culture of bankers bonuses, and persisting international divisions over coordinated global action. there is an imperative to regulate rampant and dysfunctional financialization; to cooperate internationally for sustainable balanced economic growth; for an alternative politics to pull back from an inexorable slide into plutocracy, to let the people back in. otherwise we risk lurching from one crisis episode to another, from tragedy to farce, and back again.”
Sadeh, N., Javdani, S., Jackson, J. J., Reynolds, E. K., Potenza, M. N., Gelernter, J., … Verona, E.. (2010). Serotonin transporter gene associations with psychopathic traits in youth vary as a function of socioeconomic resources. Journal of Abnormal Psychology
“Although prior research has examined the genetic correlates of antisocial behavior, molecular genetics influences on psychopathic traits remain largely unknown. consequently, we investigated the influence of polymorphic variation at the serotonin transporter protein gene (slc6a4) and socioeconomic resources (ses) on psychopathic traits in youth across two distinct samples in two separate studies. in study 1, a main effect of serotonin transporter (5-httlpr) genotype was associated with the impulsivity dimension of psychopathy. that is, individuals homozygous for the short allele evidenced more impulsivity than did those homozygous for the long allele. in contrast, a gene-environment interaction was associated with the callous-unemotional and narcissistic features of psychopathy. callous-unemotional and narcissistic traits increased as ses decreased only among youths with the homozygous-long (l/l) genotype, a novel finding replicated and extended in study 2. these studies provide preliminary results that the l/l genotype confers risk for the emotional deficits and predatory interpersonal traits associated with psychopathy among youths raised in disadvantaged environments.”
Dadds, M. R., Moul, C., Cauchi, A., Dobson-Stone, C., Hawes, D. J., Brennan, J., & Ebstein, R. E.. (2014). Methylation of the oxytocin receptor gene and oxytocin blood levels in the development of psychopathy. Development and Psychopathology
“Child conduct problems (cps) are a robust predictor of adult mental health; the concurrence of callous-unemotional (cu) traits confers specific risk for psychopathy. psychopathy may be related to disturbances in the oxytocin (oxt) system. evidence suggests that epigenetic changes in the oxt receptor gene (oxtr) are associated with lower circulating oxt and social-cognitive difficulties. we tested methylation levels of oxtr in 4- to 16-year-old males who met dsm criteria for a diagnosis of oppositional-defiant or conduct disorder and were stratified by cu traits and age. measures were dna methylation levels of six cpg sites in the promoter region of the oxtr gene (where a cpg site is a cytosine nucleotide occurs next to a guanine nucleotide in the linear sequence of bases along its lenth, linked together by phosphate binding), and oxt blood levels. high cu traits were associated with greater methylation of the oxtr gene for two cytosine nucleotide and guanine nucleotide phosphate linked sites and lower circulating oxt in older males. higher methylation correlated with lower oxt levels. we conclude that greater methylation of oxtr characterizes adolescent males with high levels of cu and cps, and this methylation is associated with lower circulating oxt and functional impairment in interpersonal empathy. the results add genetic evidence that high cu traits specify a distinct subgroup within cp children, and they suggest models of psychopathy may be informed by further identification of these epigenetic processes and their functional significance.”
Yildirim, B. O., & Derksen, J. J. L.. (2013). Systematic review, structural analysis, and new theoretical perspectives on the role of serotonin and associated genes in the etiology of psychopathy and sociopathy. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
Beaver, K. M., Barnes, J. C., May, J. S., & Schwartz, J. A.. (2011). Psychopathic personality traits, genetic risk, and gene-environment correlations. Criminal Justice and Behavior
“There is a great deal of evidence indicating that psychopathy and psychopathic traits represent some of the strongest correlates to serious violent criminal behavior. as a result, there has been a recent surge of behavioral genetic studies examining the genetic and environmental factors that may be related to the development of psychopathy. the current study extends this line of research by analyzing a sample of kinship pairs from the national longitudinal study of adolescent health to estimate the extent to which genetic factors relate to measures of psychopathic personality traits created from the five factor model. moreover, the authors also test for a series of gene-environment correlations between genetic risk for psychopathic personality traits and measures of parental negativity. the results of the analyses revealed that genetic factors explained between .37 and .44 of the variance in measures of psychopathy. additional statistical models indicated the presence of gene-environment correlations between parental negativity and genetic risk for psychopathic personality traits. (psycinfo database record (c) 2013 apa, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)”
Sadeh, N., Javdani, S., & Verona, E.. (2013). Analysis of monoaminergic genes, childhood abuse, and dimensions of psychopathy. Journal of Abnormal Psychology
“Psychopathy is a multidimensional construct characterized by an interpersonally manipulative and emotionally detached personality profile that differentiates it from other antisocial syndromes. previous research with youth has linked the long allele of the serotonin transporter gene in the presence of environmental stress with the interpersonal and affective traits of psychopathy, but these relationships have yet to be examined in relation to adult psychopathy. consequently, we examined how serotonin transporter (5-httlpr) polymorphisms, monoamine oxidase-a (mao-a) variants, and childhood abuse measured with the childhood trauma questionnaire relate to dimensions of psychopathy in a forensic sample of 237 men with elevated levels of environmental adversity. we found that the emotional deficits characterizing the affective factor of psychopathy, as measured by the psychopathy checklist: screening version, were highest among carriers of the 5-htt long allele. furthermore, the impulsive and irresponsible lifestyle features of psychopathy were higher among low-activity than high-activity mao-a carriers. these genetic effects were unexpectedly not moderated by a history of childhood abuse. results provide evidence on the molecular genetics correlates of psychopathic traits in adulthood, relationships that should be investigated further in future research.”
Hicks, B. M., Carlson, M. D., Blonigen, D. M., Patrick, C. J., Iacono, W. G., & Mgue, M.. (2012). Psychopathic personality traits and environmental contexts: Differential correlates, gender differences, and genetic mediation. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment
“Theorists have speculated that primary psychopathy (or factor 1 affective-interpersonal features) is prominently heritable whereas secondary psychopathy (or factor 2 social deviance) is more environmentally determined. we tested this differential heritability hypothesis using a large adolescent twin sample. trait-based proxies of primary and secondary psychopathic tendencies were assessed using multidimensional personality questionnaire (mpq) estimates of fearless dominance and impulsive antisociality, respectively. the environmental contexts of family, school, peers, and stressful life events were assessed using multiple raters and methods. consistent with prior research, mpq impulsive antisociality was robustly associated with each environmental risk factor, and these associations were significantly greater than those for mpq fearless dominance. however, mpq fearless dominance and impulsive antisociality exhibited similar heritability, and genetic effects mediated the associations between mpq impulsive antisociality and the environmental measures. results were largely consistent across male and female twins. we conclude that gene-environment correlations rather than main effects of genes and environments account for the differential environmental correlates of primary and secondary psychopathy.”
Glenn, A. L.. (2011). The other allele: Exploring the long allele of the serotonin transporter gene as a potential risk factor for psychopathy: A review of the parallels in findings. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
James, M. G.. (2010). Investigating dimensions of psychopathy in an adjudicated adolescent sample: The role of race, sex and disruptive family processes. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses
“Psychopathy is a personality trait associated with persistent antisocial behavior. research has documented the staggering costs associated with antisocial behavior result from the actions of a few individuals, many of whom exhibit psychopathic traits. thus, the importance of identifying and treating these individuals is of paramount concern. the majority of psychopathy research utilizes adult caucasian male participants; however, the validity of the construct in youth, females, and minorities remains unresolved (sharp & kine, 2008). furthermore, the factor structure of psychopathy is the subject of considerable debate (e.g., neumann, kosson, & salekin, 2007 and cooke, michie, & skeem, 2007). this dissertation examined psychopathic traits in a large sample of adjudicated adolescents in an effort to better understand the extent to which results from adult males generalize to other populations. the global risk assessment device (grad; gavazzi, slade, buettner, partridge, yarcheck, & andrews, 2003) is a risk and needs classification device for adolescent offenders used by court personnel for rehabilitation recommendations prior to sentencing. exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed on grad items in an effort to develop a measurement model of psychopathy and investigate race and sex differences. next, regression analyses were employed for construct validation purposes. results indicated a three factor model of psychopathy provided the best fit for caucasian males, consistent with the results of cooke and michie (2001). the model developed with caucasian males also fit well for samples of caucasian females, african-american males, and african-american females. the measurement model predicted a significant amount of variance in criminal behavior as well as a number of variables related to externalizing and internalizing symptoms. the impulsivity/conduct problems factor was strongly and consistently related to all of these outcome variables, suggesting it represents a risk factor for both externalizing and internalizing psychopathology. the callous-unemotional traits factor was also related to antisocial behavior, albeit less so than impulsivity/conduct problems. narcissism was positively related to violence. a few noteworthy race and sex differences emerged. first, the model predicted outcome variables as well or better for females as it did for males. second, the model predicted serious crime less well for african-americans than for caucas…”
Ponce, G., Hoenicka, J., Jiménez-Arriero, M. A., Rodríguez-Jiménez, R., Aragüés, M., Martín-Suñé, N., … Palomo, T.. (2008). DRD2 and ANKK1 genotype in alcohol-dependent patients with psychopathic traits: Association and interaction study. British Journal of Psychiatry
“BACKGROUND: the taqi-a polymorphism of the ankk1 gene, adjacent to the drd2 gene, has been associated with alcoholism and other psychiatric conditions, although other drd2 gene variants, such as the c957t polymorphism, could be related to these phenotypic traits.nnaims: to investigate the contribution of the taqi-a and the c957t polymorphisms to the presence of psychopathic traits in patients with alcoholism.nnmethod: we performed association and interaction analyses of the polymorphisms in 150 controls and 176 male alcohol-dependent patients assessed for the presence of dissocial personal disorder, using the psychopathy checklist-revised (pcl-r).nnresults: there was a significant association of the taqi-a and c957t polymorphisms when both genotypes were present, with pcl-r scores of f(1-171=0.13) (p=0.01) and a frequency of dissocial personal disorder or=10.52, p<0.001.nnconclusions: the taqi-a of the ankk1 gene and the c957t of the drd2 gene are epistatically associated with psychopathic traits in alcohol-dependent patients.”
Garcia, L. F., Aluja, A., Fibla, J., Cuevas, L., & García, O.. (2010). Incremental effect for antisocial personality disorder genetic risk combining 5-HTTLPR and 5-HTTVNTR polymorphisms. Psychiatry Research
In social psychology, terror management theory (abbr. TMT) proposes a basic psychological conflict that results from having a self-preservation instinct, whilst realizing that death is inevitable and to some extent unpredictable. Researchers in the field of “experimental existential psychology” (XXP) investigate the effects of, for example, mortality salience on various social, emotional, cognitive, and physiological processes. More at Wikipedia
Further References
Greenberg, J., & Arndt, J.. (2012). Terror management theory. In Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology: Volume 1
“Terror management theory was developed to explain the motivational underpinnings of phenomena such as self-esteem defense and prejudice. the theory is rooted in a long tradition of thought regarding human awareness of death and its role in psychological functioning. the theory posits that to manage the potential for terror engendered by the awareness of mortaility, humans sustain faith in worldviews which provide a sense that they are significant beings in an enduring, meaningful world rather than mere material animals fated only to obliteration upon death. the theory is supported by a wide range of studies showing that self-esteem and worldviews provide protection against anxiety and death-related cognition, reminders of mortality instigate worldview bolstering and self-esteem striving, and the threats to the worldview and self-esteem increase the accessibility of death-related thoughts. the research has also led to a dual defense model of responses to concious and unconcious death thoughts. we then focus on two of many topics informed by the theory; attitudes and behavior regarding physical health, an political preferences and intergroup conflict. we then consider factors that mitigate destructive forms of terror management. finally, we briefly summarize the contribution of terror management work so far and where it’s heading.”
Harmon-Jones, E., Simon, L., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., Pyszczynski, T., & McGregor, H.. (1997). Terror Management Theory and Self-Esteem: Evidence That Increased Self-Esteem Reduces Mortality Salience Effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
“On the basis of the terror management theory proposition that self-esteem provides protection against concerns about mortality, it was hypothesized that self-esteem would reduce the worldview defense produced by mortality salience (ms). the results of experiments 1 and 2 confirmed this hypothesis by showing that individuals with high self-esteem (manipulated in experiment 1; dispositional in experiment 2) did not respond to ms with increased worldview defense, whereas individuals with moderate self-esteem did. the results of experiment 3 suggested that the effects of the first 2 experiments may have occurred because high self-esteem facilitates the suppression of death con-structs following ms. the questions of why individuals need self-esteem and how they cope with their awareness of death are challenging ones that have fascinated and puzzled philosophers and social theo-rists (e.g., plato, kierkegaard, norman brown, william james) for centuries. terror management theory, based primarily on the writings of ernest becker (1962, 1971, 1973, 1975) and otto rank (1936, 1941), posits that self-esteem is sought because it provides protection against the fear of death (greenberg, pysz-czynski, & solomon, 1986; solomon, greenberg, & pyszczyn-ski, 1991a). from this perspective, the fear of death is rooted in an instinct for self-preservation that humans share with other species. although we share this instinct with other species, only we are aware that death is inevitable–that is, that our self-preservation instinct will inevitably be thwarted. this combina-tion of an instinctive drive for self-preservation with an aware-ness of the inevitability of death creates the potential for paralyz-ing terror. this potential for terror is managed by a cultural anxiety buffer, consisting of the cultural worldview and self-esteem. the cultural worldview is defined as a set of beliefs about the nature”
Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., & Pyszczynski, T.. (1997). Terror Management Theory of Self-Esteem and Cultural Worldviews: Empirical Assessments and Conceptual Refinements. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology
“This chapter proposes that the potential for abject terror created by the awareness of the inevitability of death in an animal instinctively programmed for self-preservation and continued experience lies at the root of a great deal of human motivation and behavior. this chapter presents the results of a substantial body of research that attests to the broad influence of the problem of death on human social behavior and illuminates the processes through which concerns about mortality exert their influence. the chapter overviews the primary assumptions and propositions of terror management theory and a description of the initial research conducted to test the theory. it presents a detailed consideration of more recent research that establishes the convergent and discriminant validity of the mortality salience treatment and the robustness of its effects through the use of alternative mortality salience treatments and comparison treatments, and replications by other researchers; it extends the range of interpersonal behaviors that are demonstrably influenced by terror management concerns. moreover, it demonstrates the interaction of mortality salience with other theoretically relevant situational and dispositional variables, and provides an account of the cognitive processes through which mortality salience produces its effects. finally, this chapter discusses the relation of terror management motives to other psychological motives and gives a consideration of issues requiring further investigation.”
Burke, B. L., Martens, A., & Faucher, E. H.. (2010). Two decades of terror management theory: A meta-analysis of mortality salience research. Personality and Social Psychology Review
“A meta-analysis was conducted on empirical trials investigating the mortality salience (ms) hypothesis of terror management theory (tmt). tmt postulates that investment in cultural worldviews and self-esteem serves to buffer the potential for death anxiety; the ms hypothesis states that, as a consequence, accessibility of death-related thought (ms) should instigate increased worldview and self-esteem defense and striving. overall, 164 articles with 277 experiments were included. ms yielded moderate effects (r =.35) on a range of worldview- and self-esteem-related dependent variables (dvs), with effects increased for experiments using (a) american participants,(b) college students,(c) a longer delay between ms and the dv,and (d) people-related attitudes as the dv. gender and self-esteem may moderate ms effects differently than previously thought. results are compared to other reviews and examined with regard to alternative explanations of tmt. finally, suggestions for future research are offered.”
Simon, L., Greenberg, J., Harmon-Jones, E., Pyszczynski, T., Solomon, S., Arndt, J., & Abend, T.. (1997). Terror management and cognitive-experiential self-theory: Evidence that terror management occurs in the experiential system. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
“The authors hypothesized, on the basis of terror management theory and cognitive-experiential self-theory, that participants in an experiential mode of thinking would respond to mortality salience with increased worldview defense and increased accessibility of death-related thoughts, whereas participants in a rational mode would not. results from 3 studies provided convergent evidence that when participants were in an experiential mode, mortality salience produced the typical worldview defense effect, but when participants were in a rational mode it did not. study 4 revealed that mortality salience also led to a delayed increase in the accessibility of death-related thoughts only when participants were in an experiential mode. these results supported the notion that worldwide defense is intensified only if individuals are in an experiential mode when considering their mortality. discussion focuses on implications for understanding terror management processes.”
Castano, E., Yzerbyt, V., Paladino, M. P., & Sacchi, S.. (2002). I belong, therefore, I exist: Ingroup identification, ingroup entitativity, and ingroup bias. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
“Merging insights from the intergroup relations literature and terror management theory, the authors conducted an experiment in which they assessed the impact of death-related thoughts on a series of ingroup measures. participants in the mortality salience condition displayed stronger ingroup identification, perceived greater ingroup entitativily, and scored higher on ingroup bias measures. also, perceived ingroup entitativily as well as ingroup identification mediated the effect of the mortality salience manipulation on ingroup bias. the findings are discussed in relation to theories of intergroup relations and terror management theory. a new perspective on the function of group belonging also is presented.”
Vail, K. E., Rothschild, Z. K., Weise, D. R., Solomon, S., Pyszczynski, T., & Greenberg, J.. (2010). A terror management analysis of the psychological functions of religion. Personality and Social Psychology Review
“From a terror management theory (tmt) perspective, religion serves to manage the potential terror engendered by the uniquely human awareness of death by affording a sense of psychological security and hope of immortality. although secular beliefs can also serve a terror management function, religious beliefs are particularly well suited to mitigate death anxiety because they are all encompassing, rely on concepts that are not easily disconfirmed, and promise literal immortality. research is reviewed demonstrating that mortality salience produces increased belief in afterlife, supernatural agency, human ascension from nature, and spiritual distinctions between mind and body. the social costs and benefits of religious beliefs are considered and compared to those of secular worldviews. the terror management functions of, and benefits and costs associated with, different types of religious orientation, such as intrinsic religiosity, quest, and religious fundamentalism, are then examined. finally, the tmt analysis is compared to other accounts of religion.”
Cohen, F., & Solomon, S.. (2011). The politics of mortal terror. Current Directions in Psychological Science
“Terror-management theory is used to examine how political preferences are altered when existential concerns are aroused. the theory posits that the uniquely human awareness of death engenders potentially debilitating terror that is managed through devotion to cultural worldviews that give individuals a sense that life has meaning and that they have value. research shows that mortality salience increases adherence to cherished cultural values and instigates efforts to bolster self-esteem. here we review research documenting the role of terror-management processes in promoting support for charismatic leaders who share one’s cherished beliefs and aggression against those who hold rival beliefs. implications for fostering effective participatory democracy are considered.”
Martens, A., Goldenberg, J. L., & Greenberg, J.. (2005). A terror management perspective on ageism. Journal of Social Issues
“In the present article, we present a theoretical perspective on ageism that is derived from terror management theory. according to the theory, human beings manage deeply-rooted fears about their vulnerability to death through symbolic constructions of meaning and corresponding standards of value. we extend this perspective to suggest that elderly individuals present an existential threat for the non-elderly because they remind us all that: (a) death is inescapable, (b) the body is fallible, and (c) the bases by which we may secure self-esteem (and manage death anxiety) are transitory. we review some recent empirical evidence in support of these ideas and then discuss possible avenues for combating ageism.”
Pyszczynski, T., Solomon, S., & Greenberg, J.. (2015). Thirty Years of Terror Management Theory: From Genesis to Revelation. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology
“Terror management theory posits that human awareness of the inevitability of death exerts a profound influence on diverse aspects of human thought, emotion, motivation, and behavior. people manage the potential for anxiety that results from this awareness by maintaining: (1) faith in the absolute validity of their cultural worldviews and (2) self-esteem by living up to the standards of value that are part of their worldviews. in this chapter, we take stock of the past 30 years of research and conceptual development inspired by this theory. after a brief review of evidence supporting the theory’s fundamental propositions, we discuss extensions of the theory to shed light on: (1) the psychological mechanisms through which thoughts of death affect subsequent thought and behavior; (2) how the anxiety-buffering systems develop over childhood and beyond; (3) how awareness of death influenced the evolution of mind, culture, morality, and religion; (4) how death concerns lead people to distance from their physical bodies and seek solace in concepts of mind and spirit; and (5) the role of death concerns in maladaptive and pathological behavior. we also consider various criticisms of the theory and alternative conceptualizations that have been proposed. we conclude with a discussion of what we view as the most pressing issues for further research and theory development that have been inspired by the theory’s first 30 years.”
Heine, S. J., Harihara, M., & Niiya, Y.. (2002). Terror management in Japan. Asian Journal of Social Psychology
“Do terror management effects generalize to non-western cultures? this question is significant because terror management theory offers an explanation of the origin of self-esteem, whereas other research finds divergent self-esteem motivations across cultures. the effects of mortality salience (ms) on the dual-component anxiety buffer were investigated in japan. a control group and a ms group were given an opportunity: (i) to defend their cultural worldview by derogating an anti-japan essay writer; and (ii) to boost their value within their cultures by indicating a greater desire for high-status over low-status products. replicating past research with western samples, japanese in a ms condition were more critical of the anti-japan essay writer and they indicated a marginal tendency to prefer high- over low-status products, compared with a control group. the theoretical implications are discussed.”
Jonas, E., Martens, A., Kayser, D. N., Fritsche, I., Sullivan, D., & Greenberg, J.. (2008). Focus Theory of Normative Conduct and Terror-Management Theory: The Interactive Impact of Mortality Salience and Norm Salience on Social Judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
“Research on terror-management theory has shown that after mortality salience (ms) people attempt to live up to cultural values. but cultures often value very different and sometimes even contradictory standards, leading to difficulties in predicting behavior as a consequence of terror-management needs. the authors report 4 studies to demonstrate that the effect of ms on people’s social judgments depends on the salience of norms. in study 1, making salient opposite norms (prosocial vs. proself) led to reactions consistent with the activated norms following ms compared with the control condition. study 2 showed that, in combination with a pacifism prime, ms increased pacifistic attitudes. in study 3, making salient a conservatism/security prime led people to recommend harsher bonds for an illegal prostitute when they were reminded of death, whereas a benevolence prime counteracted this effect. in study 4 a help prime, combined with ms, increased people’s helpfulness. discussion focuses briefly on how these findings inform both terror-management theory and the focus theory of normative conduct.”
Pyszczynski, T., Solomon, S., Greenberg, J., Arndt, J., & Schimel, J.. (2004). Why do people need self-esteem? A theoretical and empirical review. Psychological Bulletin
“Terror management theory (tmt; j. greenberg, t. pyszczynski, & s. solomon, 1986) posits that people are motivated to pursue positive self-evaluations because self-esteem provides a buffer against the omnipresent potential for anxiety engendered by the uniquely human awareness of mortality. empirical evidence relevant to the theory is reviewed showing that high levels of self-esteem reduce anxiety and anxiety-related defensive behavior, reminders of one’s mortality increase self-esteem striving and defense of self-esteem against threats in a variety of domains, high levels of self-esteem eliminate the effect of reminders of mortality on both self-esteem striving and the accessibility of death-related thoughts, and convincing people of the existence of an afterlife eliminates the effect of mortality salience on self-esteem striving. tmt is compared with other explanations for why people need self-esteem, and a critique of the most prominent of these, sociometer theory, is provided.”
Solomon, S., Greenberg, J., & Pyszczynski, T.. (1991). A Terror Management Theory of Social Behavior: The Psychological Functions of Self-Esteem and Cultural Worldviews. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology
Greenberg, J., & Kosloff, S.. (2008). Terror Management Theory: Implications for Understanding Prejudice, Stereotyping, Intergroup Conflict, and Political Attitudes. Social and Personality Psychology Compass
“Terror management theory posits that to maintain psychological security despite the awareness of personal mortality, humans must maintain faith in cultural worldviews. these worldviews provide ways for humans to believe they are significant enduring beings in a world of meaning rather than mere animals fated only to obliteration upon death. we review basic support for terror management theory and research exploring the implications of terror management theory for understanding prejudice, stereo- typing, intergroup conflict, and political attitudes. this research shows that when the psychological need to defend these worldviews is heightened by reminders of death (mortality salience), prejudice, stereotyping, and support for charismatic leaders and aggression against outgroups is increased. terror management concerns also lead targets of prejudice to disidentify with their ingroup and confirm negative stereotypes of their group. we conclude by considering the implications of terror management theory and research for the alleviation of prejudice and intergroup conflict.”
Greenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T., & Solomon, S.. (1986). The Causes and Consequences of a Need for Self-Esteem: A Terror Management Theory. In Public Self and Private Self
“Four selves, two motives, and a substitute process self-regulation model”
Landau, M. J., Solomon, S., Greenberg, J., Cohen, F., Pyszczynski, T., Arndt, J., … Cook, A.. (2004). Deliver us from evil: The effects of mortality salience and reminders of 9/11 on support for President George W. Bush. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
“According to terror management theory, heightened concerns about mortality should intensify the appeal of charismatic lead- ers. to assess this idea, we investigated how thoughts about death and the 9/11 terrorist attacks influence americans’ atti- tudes toward current u.s. president george w. bush. study 1 found that reminding people of their own mortality (mortality salience) increased support for bush and his counterterrorism policies. study 2 demonstrated that subliminal exposure to 9/ 11-related stimuli brought death-related thoughts closer to con- sciousness. study 3 showed that reminders of both mortality and 9/11 increased support for bush. in study 4, mortality salience led participants to become more favorable toward bush and vot- ing for him in the upcoming election but less favorable toward presidential candidate john kerry and voting for him. discus- sion focused on the role of terror management processes in allegiance to charismatic leaders and political decision making.”
Jonas, E., & Fischer, P.. (2006). Terror management and religion: Evidence that intrinsic religiousness mitigates worldview defense following mortality salience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
“Terror management theory suggests that people cope with awareness of death by investing in some kind of literal or symbolic immortality. given the centrality of death transcendence beliefs in most religions, the authors hypothesized that religious beliefs play a protective role in managing terror of death. the authors report three studies suggesting that affirming intrinsic religiousness reduces both death-thought accessibility following mortality salience and the use of terror management defenses with regard to a secular belief system. study 1 showed that after a naturally occurring reminder of mortality, people who scored high on intrinsic religiousness did not react with worldview defense, whereas people low on intrinsic religiousness did. study 2 specified that intrinsic religious belief mitigated worldview defense only if participants had the opportunity to affirm their religious beliefs. study 3 illustrated that affirmation of religious belief decreased death-thought accessibility following mortality salience only for those participants who scored high on the intrinsic religiousness scale. taken as a whole, these results suggest that only those people who are intrinsically vested in their religion derive terror management benefits from religious beliefs.”
Cozzolino, P. J., Staples, A. D., Meyers, L. S., & Samboceti, J.. (2004). Greed, Death, and Values: From Terror Management to Transcendence Management Theory. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
“Research supporting terror management theory has shown that participants facing their death (via mortality salience) exhibit more greed than do control participants. the present research attempts to distinguish mortality salience from other forms of mortality awareness. specifically, the authors look to reports of near-death experiences and posttraumatic growth which reveal that many people who nearly die come to view seeking wealth and possession as empty and meaningless. guided by these reports, a manipulation called death reflection was generated. in study 1, highly extrinsic participants who experienced death reflection exhibited intrinsic behavior. in study 2, the manipulation was validated, and in study 3, death reflection and mortality salience manipulations were compared. results showed that mortality salience led highly extrinsic participants to manifest greed, whereas death reflection again generated intrinsic, unselfish behavior. the construct of value orientation is discussed along with the contrast between death reflection manipulation and mortality salience.”
Florian, V., & Mikulincer, M.. (1997). Fear of death and the judgment of social transgressions: A multidimensional test of terror management theory.. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
“The purpose of the research was to integrate a multidimensional approach to fear of personal death with terror management theory. in study 1, 190 students were divided according to the manipulation of death salience and the intrapersonal and interpersonal aspects of fear of death and were asked to judge transgressions that have either intrapersonal or interpersonal consequences. study 2 was a conceptual replication of study 1, with the exception that the manipulation of mortality salience included conditions that made salient either intrapersonal or interpersonal aspects of death. findings indicate that the effects of mortality salience depend on the aspect of death that is made salient, the aspect of death that individuals most fear, and the type of the judged transgression. more severe judgments of transgressions after death salience manipulation were found mainly when there was a fit between these 3 factors. findings are discussed in light of terror management theory.”
Arndt, J., Solomon, S., Kasser, T., & Sheldon, K. M.. (2004). The urge to splurge: A terror management account of materialism and consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology
“This article presents terror management theory (tmt) as a way to understand how the human awareness of death affects materialism, conspicuous consumption, and consumer decisions. the pursuit of wealth and culturally desired commodities are hypothesized to reinforce those beliefs that function to protect people from existential anxieties. following a brief overview of tmt and research, evidence is reviewed that explicates how intimations of mortality increase materialism as a way to enhance self-esteem and affects consumer decisions that support one’s cultural worldview. adverse consequences of materialistic and consumeristic worldviews are described and the challenges for future research to discover ways to alleviate them are considered.”