The Recategorization Effect of a Shared Threat Mortality Salience Condition
Abstract
This paper explores the possibility that a shared threat mortality salience condition would result in a recategorization of ingroup/outgroup relationships. Students from Daytona Beach Community College and the University of Central Florida were exposed to one of three conditions in which they were asked to write essays. One condition, which served as a control, asked them to write about watching television; another asked them to write about their imagined death; the third condition was the shared threat condition in which they were asked to write about their imagined deaths in the 9/11/01 World Trade Center attacks. Participants were then asked to fill out questionnaires which included a shortened version of Adomo's Authoritarianism scale, a shortened version of the Marlowe-Crowne social desirability scale, a homonegativism scale, and the Modified Godfrey-Richard ISMS scale. Despite several previous studies which indicate a difference between the control condition and the mortality salience condition, few differences were detected among the three groups. This points to methodological flaws, which are discussed. Corrections for these flaws and suggestions for future research are also discussed.
Notes
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Thesis Completion
2004
Semester
Spring
Advisor
Chin, Matthew
Degree
Bachelor of Science (B.S.)
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Degree Program
Psychology
Subjects
Arts and Sciences -- Dissertations, Academic; Dissertations, Academic -- Arts and Sciences; Categorization (Psychology); Terrorism -- Psychological aspects
Format
Identifier
DP0021814
Language
English
Access Status
Open Access
Length of Campus-only Access
None
Document Type
Honors in the Major Thesis
Recommended Citation
Cummings, Tamara, "The Recategorization Effect of a Shared Threat Mortality Salience Condition" (2004). HIM 1990-2015. 374.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses1990-2015/374