Citation

Piñuela Sánchez R, Yela García C. Psicothema 2016; 28(1): 47-52.

Affiliation

Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Departamento de Psicología de la Universidad de Oviedo, Publisher Colegio Oficial de Psicológicas de Asturias)

DOI

10.7334/psicothema2015.147

PMID

26820423

Abstract

BACKGROUND: From the framework of Terror Management Theory, the objective of the present research is to analyze the effect of mortality salience (MS) on the minimization of Muslim terrorists’ secondary emotions (MSE, which can be understood as a particular kind of dehumanization), as a function of political orientation.

METHOD: An experimental design was used, in which the participants (university students, N= 293) were randomly assigned to a control or experimental group, their political orientation was taken note of, and they were asked to attribute emotions to Muslim terrorists.

RESULTS: In accordance with the hypotheses, the results indicate that, among those supporting tenets of the political left, MS originates less minimization of secondary emotions of the terrorists (MSE). However, among people who stand on the right, MS inspires greater MSE (that is, a lower attribution of these emotions).

CONCLUSIONS: These results support the thesis that the effects of MS are not to be found exclusively in conservative people, and that they do not necessarily imply a conservative shift, but constitute a polarization in previous ideological tendencies or cultural worldview.

Language: en