An interesting observation about research on terror management theory was made by Christine Ma-Kellams and Jim Blascovich in the August, 2011 issue of Psychological Science.  They pointed out that most research on terror management has been done with participants who are members of a Western culture.  They reasoned that members of East Asian cultures might protect their sense of self in a different way.

Quite a bit of research on cultural differences in thinking has demonstrated that Western cultures tend to be highly individualistic, while members of East Asian cultures tend to be collectivistic.  That is, members of Western cultures tend to prize individual achievement, while members of East Asian cultures tend to prize the connections among people within the culture.

How might culture influence the reaction to thinking about death?

If members of a Western culture want to enhance their sense of self, then it makes sense for them to increase their sense of nationalism and then to punish others who violate cultural norms.   In contrast, members of East Asian cultures are heavily focused on their connection to other people.  Thus, when faced with thoughts of death, members of East Asian cultures might actually embrace others more closely (even those who have violated a cultural norm) in order to feel a greater connection to the culture as a whole.

To test this possibility, the researchers compared European Americans to participants who were first- or second-generation Asian Americans.  Half of the participants were asked to write about their own death (to stimulate thoughts of death), while the other half were asked to write about going to the dentist.  In one study, after this manipulation of thoughts of death, people read about a criminal case involving a prostitute.  Later, they filled out a scale with their attitudes toward prostitution. 

Prostitution violates a cultural norm.  Consistent with previous research on terror management, European American participants had a less positive attitude toward prostitution after thinking about their own death than after thinking about going to the dentist.  In contrast, Asian Americans actually had a more positive attitude toward prostitution after thinking about their own death than after thinking about prostitution. 

In a second study, European American participants were more likely to blame the victim of an accident for his condition after thinking about death than after thinking about the dentist.  Asian American participants were less likely to blame the victim after thinking about death than after thinking about the dentist.

These results suggest that members of Western and East Asian cultures are both similar and different in their reactions to thinking about death.  On the similar side, both groups want to enhance their sense of self by embracing their culture in order to combat thoughts of death.  However, the groups differ in what it means to embrace their culture.  European Americans embrace their culture by punishing others who have violated a cultural norm.  In contrast, Asian Americans embrace their culture by enhancing their sense of the value of other people, even when those others have violated a cultural norm.

I find this research interesting in a number of ways.  I continue to be fascinated about the profound influence that thinking about death has on the way people think.  With this specific study, though, I also find it interesting how strongly culture affects our sense of self.  

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