Why do people need self-esteem? A theoretical and empirical review.
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.
Pyszczynski
Tom
T
Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO, USA. tpyszczy@uccs.edu
Greenberg
Jeff
J
Solomon
Sheldon
S
Arndt
Jamie
J
Schimel
Jeff
J
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001007:Anxiety / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D001293:Attitude to Death; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D012649:Self Concept; D012919:Social Behavior