a The University of Newcastle , Australia.
J Soc Psychol. 2018;158(3):298-308. doi: 10.1080/00224545.2017.1341375. Epub 2017 Aug 31.
Terror management theory (TMT) proposes that thoughts of death trigger a concern about self-annihilation that motivates the defense of cultural worldviews. In contrast, uncertainty theorists propose that thoughts of death trigger feelings of uncertainty that motivate worldview defense. University students (N = 414) completed measures of the chronic fear of self-annihilation and existential uncertainty as well as the need for closure. They then evaluated either a meaning threat stimulus or a control stimulus. Consistent with TMT, participants with a high fear of self-annihilation and a high need for closure showed the greatest dislike of the meaning threat stimulus, even after controlling for their existential uncertainty. Contrary to the uncertainty perspective, fear of existential uncertainty showed no significant effects.
死亡恐惧管理理论（TMT）提出，对死亡的思考会引发对自我毁灭的担忧，从而激发对文化世界观的防御。相比之下，不确定性理论则提出，对死亡的思考会引发不确定性的感觉，从而激发世界观防御。本研究招募了 414 名大学生，他们完成了对慢性自我毁灭恐惧和存在性不确定性以及封闭需求的测量，然后评估了意义威胁刺激或控制刺激。与 TMT 一致的是，具有较高自我毁灭恐惧和较高封闭需求的参与者对意义威胁刺激表现出最大的厌恶，即使在控制了存在性不确定性之后也是如此。与不确定性观点相反，对存在性不确定性的恐惧没有显示出显著的影响。
