Terror in the homeland

NKD: Where does this fear come from?

SS: It comes from the human evolution into intelligent creatures. As anthropologist Ernest Becker argued, we have survived in part because we can ponder the past, plan for the future and imagine and make real things that may not exist. But that intelligence also brings awareness that we can die for unpredictable, uncontrollable reasons.

NKD: How did our ancestors adapt to this terrifying awareness?

SS: They used the same intellectual construction that causes the problem. They created a cultural worldview--beliefs about the nature of reality shared by members of a group. Culture gives us a sense that we live in a meaningful universe, and it provides social roles that make us significant members of that universe. It also allows us to defy death symbolically or literally, by believing in an afterlife.

NKD: Immortality-if you're good.

SS: Yes. People who "do the right thing" in the context of their culture will be rewarded with immortality.

NKD: How does terror management play out today?

SS: Terror management theory, or TMT, addresses why people have a tough time getting along with those who are different. If culture serves a death-denying function, then the existence of the people who are culturally different undermines our own defense against the fear of death.

NKD: So what is the result?

SS: We scapegoat a group as the repository of evil. The most benign form is devaluing the threat posed by the alternative worldview. We also might try to convince others to shed their ideas and adopt ours, as in missionary work. Most chillingly, we can kill the culturally different, to prove that our way is the most powerful. For the radical Islam represented by Osama bin Laden, the West is evil and must be eradicated. On the other side, President George Bush declared this conflict a crusade-suggesting that our god is better than theirs.

NKD: It's a long way from human ancestors to suicide bombers. How do you test these ideas?

SS: According to TMT, inducing thoughts of death should increase the need for cultural beliefs and affect reactions toward others. We ask people to jot down thoughts about dying versus non-lethal unpleasant thoughts, such as pain. We then ask them to make judgments about individuals similar to or different from themselves. In one study, Christian participants primed to think about death by researchers reacted more positively to fellow Christians and more negatively to Jewish individuals. In another study, Americans showed more affection for people endorsing the American way of life and more hostility toward critics of it.

NKD: What's next?

SS: Figuring out how to reduce hostile reactions and remind people to be tolerant of others. So far we've found that people with high self-esteem or who value tolerance react less to mortality manipulations. We are hopeful of finding practical ways to help us all get along in a frightening world.

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Nancy K. Dess is a professor of psychology at Occidental College and former senior scientist at the American Psychological Association.