Journal article
Death in Groups: Mortality Salience and the Interindividual-Intergroup Discontinuity Effect
Group processes & intergroup relations, Vol.12(4), pp.419-429
07/2009
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/113758
Abstract
Past research has shown that mortality salience (MS) increases aggression toward a worldview-threatening other. The present study evaluated whether MS would have a larger impact on aggression under group as opposed to individual interactions, and whether the tendency for groups to be more aggressive than individuals (i.e. interindividual-intergroup discontinuity effect) would be magnified under conditions of MS. Participants assigned to an individual or a three-person group condition wrote down thoughts about dental pain or mortality. Later, participants read a worldview-threatening essay from another individual or group at a rival university and subsequently allocated hot sauce for the others to consume. Results supported the primary hypotheses: those writing about death were more aggressive than those writing about dental pain; groups were more aggressive than individuals; those in the MS condition tended to show more aggression; and the discontinuity effect was more visible among those in the MS condition. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
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Details
- Title
- Death in Groups: Mortality Salience and the Interindividual-Intergroup Discontinuity Effect
- Creators
- Sterling McPherson - Washington State UniversityJeff Joireman - Washington State University
- Publication Details
- Group processes & intergroup relations, Vol.12(4), pp.419-429
- Academic Unit
- Marketing and International Business, Department of; Medical Education and Clinical Science, Department of
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications; London, England
- Identifiers
- 99900547886501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article