Defenders of a lost cause: terror management and violent resistance to the disengagement plan

Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin
Gilad Hirschberger, Tsachi Ein-Dor

Abstract

Two studies, conducted 3 months before the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip and the Northern West Bank, examined whether reminders of death would lead right-wing Israelis to endorse violent resistance against the disengagement plan. More specifically, we hypothesized that this reaction would be particularly strong among participants high in denial--those who were unable to come to terms with the Israeli withdrawal. In Study 1 (N = 63), right-wing Israeli undergraduates were primed with death and asked to indicate whether they view violent resistance as legitimate and whether they would be willing to partake in such violence. In Study 2 (N = 42), Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip completed a similar procedure as in Study 1. In both studies, primes of death led to greater support of violent resistance, but only among participants high in denial. The discussion examines the applicability of terror management theory to understanding real-life political crises.

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Citations

Jan 1, 2009·Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology·Brian J HallSandro Galea
Jul 14, 2010·Journal of Traumatic Stress·Lior Oren, Chaya Possick
Aug 14, 2012·The British Journal of Social Psychology·Matt MotylTom Pyszczynski
Nov 27, 2009·Personality and Social Psychology Review : an Official Journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc·Kenneth E VailJeff Greenberg
Feb 28, 2008·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·Gilad HirschbergerShaul Almakias
Jan 26, 2010·Personality and Social Psychology Review : an Official Journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc·Brian L BurkeErik H Faucher
Sep 22, 2017·Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science·Aldert VrijSteven M Kleinman
Jun 19, 2018·Evolutionary Psychology : an International Journal of Evolutionary Approaches to Psychology and Behavior·Miriam Lindner
Apr 28, 2021·Suicide & Life-threatening Behavior·Athena Kheibari, Julie Cerel

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