Citation

Vaes J, Heflick NA, Goldenberg JL. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 2010; 98(5): 750-760.

Affiliation

Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization (DPSS), University of Padova.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/a0017658

PMID

20438222

Abstract

Prior research has shown the importance of humanness in shaping one's social identity, but no research has examined why this is the case. The present article reveals that humanizing the ingroup serves a terror management function. In 3 studies, Italian (Studies 1 and 2) and American (Study 3) participants humanized their own group more when their mortality was salient. In Study 3, humanizing the ingroup also functioned to reduce the accessibility of death thoughts. Together, these studies provide clear support for terror management theory as an explanatory framework for ingroup humanization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Language: en