Previous research has identified economic and political factors that can contribute to the outbreak and the duration of armed conflicts. However, the psychological factors that may play a role in conflict escalation and duration have received less attention. Adopting a psychological perspective, the present study aims to investigate the role of death awareness in the context of an armed conflict. To this aim, basic assumptions derived from Terror Management Theory (TMT) were examined in an African civil war context. According to TMT, people manage awareness of inevitable death by increased striving for self-esteem and increased adherence to their cultural values. Students from the University of Abidjan (Ivory Coast), located in the pro-governmental part of the country, were randomly assigned to a mortality salience or a control condition and completed measures of self-esteem and government/army support. As expected, reminding participants of their possible death during the ongoing conflict exacerbated self-esteem, as well as support for the actions of the government and its army, compared to a control condition. Given that mortality is chronically salient in the context of a civil war, these effects can lead to conflict intensification by increasing not only each side’s support for their leaders, but also the value that members of confronted sides attribute to themselves. The findings are discussed in terms of the role of mortality salience in conflict escalation and the importance of carefully dealing with the past in post-conflict societies.
Arndt, Jamie & Jeff Greenberg ( 1999) The effects of a self-esteem boost and mortality salience on responses to boost relevant and irrelevant worldview threats. Personality and Social Psychological Bulletin25(11): 1331-1341.
2.
Arndt, Jamie; Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon, Tom Pyszczynski & Linda Simon ( 1997) Suppression, accessibility of death-related thoughts, and cultural worldview defense: Exploring the psychodynamics of terror management . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology73: 5-18.
3.
Arndt, Jamie; Jeff Greenberg, Jeff Schimel, Tom Pyszczynski & Sheldon Solomon ( 2002) To belong or not to belong, that is the question: Terror management and identification with gender and ethnicity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology83(1): 26-43.
4.
Arndt, Jamie; Alison Cook & Clay Routledge ( 2004) The blueprint of terror management: Understanding the cognitive architecture of psychological defense against the awareness of death . In Jeff Greenberg, Sander L Koole & Tom Pyszczynski (eds) Handbook of Experimental Existential Psychology. New York: Guilford , 35-53.
5.
Bar-Tal, Daniel ( 1998) The rocky road toward peace: Societal beliefs functional to intractable conflict in Israeli school textbooks. Journal of Peace Research35(6): 723-742.
6.
Bar-Tal, Daniel ( 2000) From intractable conflict through conflict resolution to reconciliation: Psychological analysis. Political Psychology21(2): 351-365.
7.
Bleeker, Mô & Jonathan Sisson ( 2005) Dealing with the past: Critical issues, lessons learned, and challenges for future Swiss policy ( http://www.swisspeace.ch/typo3/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/KOFF/KOFF_DealingWithThePast.pdf).
8.
Castano, Emanuele; Vincent Yzerbyt, Paladino Maria-Paola & Sacchi Simona ( 2002) I belong, therefore, I exist: Ingroup identification, ingroup entitativity, and ingroup bias. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin28(2): 135-143.
9.
Cohen, Florette; Daniel M Ogilvie, Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg & Tom Pyszczynski ( 2005) American roulette: The effect of reminders of death on support for George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy5(1): 177-187.
10.
Collier, Paul & Anke Hoeffler ( 1998) On economic causes of civil war. Oxford Economic Papers50(4): 563-573.
11.
Collier, Paul & Nicholas Sambanis ( 2002) Understanding civil war: A new agenda. Journal of Conflict Resolution46(1): 3-12.
12.
Collier, Paul; Anke Hoeffler & Måns Söderbom ( 2004) On the duration of civil war. Journal of Peace Research41(3): 253-273.
13.
Crocker, Jennifer & Lora E Park ( 2004) The costly pursuit of self-esteem. Psychological Bulletin130(3): 392-414.
14.
Dechesne, Mark; Cohen van den Berg & Josephs Soeters ( 2007) International collaboration under threat: A field study in Kabul. Conflict Management and Peace Science24(1): 25-36.
15.
DeWall, C Nathan & Roy F Baumeister ( 2007) From terror to joy: Automatic tuning to positive affective information following mortality salience. Psychological Science18(11): 984-990.
16.
Gordijn, H Ernestine & Diederik A Stapel ( 2008) When controversial leaders with charisma are effective: The influence of terror on the need for vision and impact of mixed attitudinal messages. European Journal of Social Psychology38(3): 389-411.
17.
Greenberg, Jeff; Tom Pyszczynski & Sheldon Solomon ( 1986) The causes and consequences of a need for self-esteem: A terror management theory. In: Roy F Baumeister (ed.) Public Self and Private Self. New York: Springer-Verlag, 189-212.
18.
Greenberg, Jeff; Tom Pyszczynski, Sheldon Solomon, Abram Rosenblatt, Mitchell Veeder, Shari Kirkland & Deborah Lyon ( 1990) Evidence for terror management II: The effects of mortality salience on reactions to those who threaten or bolster the cultural worldview . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology58(2): 308-318.
19.
Greenberg, Jeff; Sheldon Solomon, Tom Pyszczynski, Abram Rosenblatt, John Burling, Deborah Lyon, Elisabeth Pinel & Linda Simon ( 1992) Assessing the terror management analysis of self-esteem: Converging evidence of an anxiety-buffering function. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology63(6): 913-922.
20.
Greenberg, Jeff; Linda Simon, Jonathan Porteus, Tom Pyszczynski & Sheldon Solomon ( 1995) Evidence of a terror management function of cultural icons: The effects of mortality salience on the inappropriate use of cherished cultural symbols. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin21(11): 1221-1228.
21.
Greenberg, Jeff; Jeff Schimel, Andy Martens, Sheldon Solomon & Tom Pyszcznyski ( 2001) Sympathy for the devil: Evidence that reminding Whites of their mortality promotes more favorable reactions to White racists . Motivation and Emotion25(2): 113-133.
22.
Greenberg, Jeff; Sheldon Solomon & Jamie Arndt ( 2008) A uniquely human motivation: Terror management . In: James Shah & Wendi Gardner (eds) Handbook of Motivation Science. New York: Guilford, 113-134.
23.
Guardian (2003a) Ivory Coast stampedes into chaos. Retrieved 3 June 2007 (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/).
24.
Guardian (2003b) Ivory Coast death squads sow terror. Retrieved 3 June 2007 (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/).
25.
Gurr,Ted R. ( 1970) Why Men Rebel. Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press.
26.
Harbom, Lotta & Peter Wallensteen ( 2007) Armed conflict, 1989-2006. Journal of Peace Research44(5): 623-634.
27.
Harbom, Lotta & Peter Wallensteen(2009) Armed conflicts, 1946-2008. Journal of Peace Research46(4): 577-587.
28.
Harmon-Jones, Eddie; Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon & Linda Simon ( 1996) The effect of mortality salience on intergroup bias between minimal groups. European Journal of Social Psychology26(4): 677-681.
29.
Harmon-Jones, Eddie; Linda Simon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, Sheldon Solomon & Holly McGregor ( 1997) Terror management theory and self-esteem: Evidence that increased self-esteem reduces mortality salience effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology72(1): 24-36.
30.
Hegre, Håvard ( 2004) The duration and the termination of civil war. Journal of Peace Research41(3): 243-252.
31.
Hirschberger, Gilad & Tsachi Ein-Dor ( 2006) Defenders of a lost cause: Terror management and violent resistance to the disengagement plan. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin32(6): 761-769.
32.
Hirschberger, Gilad; Tom Pyszczynski, & Tsachi Ein-Dor (2009) Vulnerability and vigilance: Threat awareness and perceived adversary intent moderate the impact of mortality salience on intergroup violence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin35(5): 597-607.
33.
Jeune Afrique ( 2003a) Massacre avec préméditation à Bouaké [Premeditated massacre in Bouaké] ( http://www.jeuneafrique.com/).
34.
Jeune Afrique ( 2003b) Droits de l’homme: le rapport qui accuse le MPCI [Human rights: The report which charges the MPCI] ( http://www.jeuneafrique.com/).
35.
Lacina, Bethany ( 2006) Explaining the severity of civil wars. Journal of Conflict Resolution50(2): 276-289.
36.
Landau, J Mark; Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Florette Cohen, Tom Pyszczynski & Jamie Arndt ( 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 Bulletin30(9): 1136-1150.
37.
McGregor, Holly; Joel D Lieberman, Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Jamie Arndt, Linda Simon & Tom Pyszczynski ( 1998) Terror management and aggression: Evidence that mortality salience motivates aggression against worldview threatening others . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology74(3): 590-605.
38.
McGregor, Ian; Mark P Zanna, John G Holmes & Steven J Spencer ( 2001) Compensatory conviction in the face of personal uncertainty: Going to extremes and being oneself. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology80(3): 472-488.
39.
Nelson, J Lori; David L Moore, Jennifer Olivetti & Tippony Scott ( 1997) General and personal mortality salience and nationalistic bias. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin23(8): 884-892.
40.
Pyszczynski, Tom; Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon, Jamie Arndt & Jeff Schimel ( 2004) Why do people need self-esteem? A theoretical and empirical review. Psychological Bulletin130(3): 435-468.
41.
Pyszczynski, Tom; Abdolhossein Abdollahi, Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Florette Cohen & David Weise ( 2006) Mortality salience, martyrdom, and military might: The Great Satan versus the Axis of Evil. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin32(4): 525-537.
42.
Rousseau, L David & Rocio Garcia-Retamero ( 2007) Identity, power, and threat perception. Journal of Conflict Resolution51(5): 744-771.
43.
Routledge, Clay & Jamie Arndt ( 2008) Self-sacrifice as self-defence: Mortality salience increases efforts to affirm a symbolic immortal self at the expense of the physical self.
44.
European Journal of Social Psychology38(3): 531-541. Sherif, Muzafer (1966) In Common Predicament: Social Psychology of Intergroup Conflict and Cooperation. Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin.
45.
Solomon, Sheldon; Jeff Greenberg & Tom Pyszczynski ( 1991) A terror management theory of social behavior: The psychological functions of self-esteem and cultural worldviews. In: Mark P Zanna (ed.) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology . New York: Academic Press, 24, 93-159.
46.
Tajfel, Henri & John C Turner ( 1979) An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In: Stephen Worchel & William G Austin (eds) The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations. Monterey, CA: Brooks-Cole , 33-47.
47.
Taubman Ben-Ari, Orit; Victor Florian & Mario Mikulincer ( 1999) The impact of mortality salience on reckless driving: A test of terror management mechanisms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology76(1): 35-45.
48.
University of Uppsala (2009). Uppsala conflict data program (http://www.pcr.uu.se/research/UCDP/index.htm ).
49.
Vallières, Evelyne & Robert J Vallerand ( 1990) Traduction et validation canadienne-française de l’échelle de l’estime de soi de Rosenberg [Translation and French-Canadian validation of Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale]. International Journal of Psychology25: 305-316.
50.
Van den Boos, Kees; Marijn P Poortvliet, Marjolein Maas, Joost Miedema & Ernst-Jan Van den Haam ( 2005) An enquiry concerning the principles of cultural norms and values: The impact of uncertainty and mortality salience on reactions to violations and bolstering of cultural worldviews. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology41(2): 91-113.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
