Citation

Thompson SC, Schlehofer MM. Person. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 2008; 34(8): 1070-1083.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Pomona College, Claremont, CA 91711, USA. Suzanne.Thompson@pomona.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0146167208318403

PMID

18493031

Abstract

The threat orientation model proposes three dispositional responses to threats: control, heightened sensitivity, and denial. Two studies explored the psychometric properties of the previously developed threat orientation scales and the relationship between the orientations and the responses to a variety of threats. Study 1 found that the control-based and heightened sensitivity-based scales are reliable and were related to perceptions of health, financial, and terrorist threats with a nationally representative sample. Findings held across gender, age, and ethnic groups. Furthermore, Study 1 suggested two types of denial processes: optimistic denial and avoidance denial. Study 2 used a diverse sample to gain additional evidence for two processes of denial and developed measures of each type.

Language: en