Abstract
The current paper reviews an article titled Terror Management Theory by Dewa et al., which was designed to determine the linkages between terrorism salience and anxiety buffer mechanism. The review includes an examination of the way the study was conducted, the results, and discussion. The review presents the meaning and implications of the results. Likewise, it shows the flaws and suggestions for improving the same. The researcher used a sample of 162 respondents who were females with a mean age of 24.7 years. The study measured the level of anxiety between a controlled group, terrorism salience, and mortality salience. According to the study, there are no significant differences in the anxiety level between the three groups. However, the study found some variations caused by the level of self-esteem. The results show that terrorism salience respondents had the lowest anxiety levels. The results show that anxiety levels following exposure to a terrorist attack do not change from ne group to another. However, the timelines for the study might be inadequate to increase the anxiety levels of a participant. However, the results are reliable and can be used to conclude anxiety and terrorist attacks. The study has its flaws like restricting the respondents to three groups, a long period following a terrorist attack, and focusing on females only. However, the researcher can improve the study by including new variables and increasing the sample size.
Article Review
The purpose of this paper is to review an article on terrorism by examining the way the study was conducted, the results, and other issues from the article. The paper discusses the meaning and implications of the presented results, including a detailed analysis of the relevance and validity of the information. Additionally, the review will highlight the flaws in the article and suggest approaches the researcher could have pursued to improve the article. Likewise, the paper includes suggestions on how the author could expand the results and presents a broader picture of the information, including highlighting possible areas for future research. Lastly, the paper discusses possible ways of expanding knowledge on terrorism management. The review focuses on an article by Dewa et al. (2013) titles Terror Management Theory. The purpose of the article was to establish the linkages between terrorism salience and the anxiety-buffer mechanism.
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Dewa et al. (2013) conducted a qualitative study involving 162 respondents. The participants were females with a mean age of 24.7 years. The ultimate sample included 189 persons after the researcher performed data screening. The researcher then subjected the respondents to a 21 item scale that measured physical and psychological symptoms associated with anxiety. The participants completed the Rosenberg self-esteem scale and condition-specific questions after reading an extract from the 9/11 terrorist attack. Similarly, the researcher asked structured questions in the mortality salient and controlled conditions. According to the study, there was no significant difference in the anxiety group between terrorism salience mortality salience and the controlled group. The author hypothesized that a terrorist attack reminder would lead to differences in anxiety levels between different groups. However, issues like self-esteem affected the participants, and few showed a slight increase in worldview defense. The study showed that terrorism salience had a slightly lower anxiety score compared to the controlled group and mortality salience.
Meaning and Implications of the Results
The study examined anxiety levels between a controlled group, mortality salience, and terrorism salience. The author includes an element of esteem, and according to the study, participants with high self-esteem recorded lower anxiety levels compared to those with low or moderate self-esteem. However, self-esteem did not affect worldview defense when the researcher reminded participants of their own mortality. According to the study, when an individual is reminded of their inevitable death through experiment or natural occurrence, they are likely to self preserve. Terrorism salience produced the lowest anxiety compared to the other two, an indication that a reminder of an incident like the 9/11 attack does not contribute to the development of death thoughts. The results show that terrorism activities do not contribute to the heightened anxiety level when participants remember their imminent death during an attack. It can be challenging for a researcher to determine the anxiety level of a participant who encountered a terrorist attack. However, the study can be replicated, and the results are reliable; in my opinion, the researcher did a great job in this study.
Flaws with the Article
The article has its flows that can affect the results of the study. The researcher assumed that the participants could only be categorized into three groups; mortality salience, terrorism salience, and the controlled group. The researcher failed to appreciate that individuals react differently to terrorist attacks. The research period was also too short; thus, it was inadequate to remind the participants of the occurrences of 9/11. Given that a substantial time has elapsed from the occurrence of the terrorist act and the research time, most of the participants might have forgotten the occurrence thus could not show any meaningful changes in their anxiety levels. The tools for measuring the reactions of each participant following the reminder by a researcher could not capture the actual level of anxiety for each participant. Additionally, some of the respondents might decide to fill the scale according to what they believe was needed by the researcher. Such shortcomings affect the results of a study. However, the researcher reduced the effects of the identified factors by using tested and verified tools. The researcher could have obtained better results if they had engaged participants with fresh memories of a terrorist attack. Such respondents could give varied results on the level of anxiety, thus presenting new insight on anxiety and self-esteem.
Expansion of the Results
The researcher could expand the results by including different variables like one on one encounter with a terrorist, sight of an injured or dying person, or a new form of a terrorist attack that was life-threatening. Similarly, the researcher could have included male participants for comparison and to determine if there are significant differences between the two groups. The researcher could also include participants from a recent terrorist attack since their memories and experiences are still fresh; thus, the results will be different from the reported ones. Future research should focus on personal experiences, reactions, and action is taken to safeguard one's safety.
Expansion of Knowledge
The article presents insightful information on anxiety levels following a terrorist attack. The researcher presented relevant information using a controlled group, mortality salience, and terrorism salience. Future studies should expand on the current research by introducing new variables and using different measurement scales. Similarly, they can use a larger sample size to obtain generalizable information.
The article hypothesized that the reminder of a terrorist attack would lead to differences in anxiety levels between different groups. The researcher examined the reaction of a controlled group, terrorism salience, and mortality salience groups. The participants completed the Rosenberg self-esteem scale and condition-specific questions after reading an extract from the 9/11 terrorist attack. The study shows that there was no significant difference in the anxiety group between the three groups. The results show that exposure to a terrorist incident does not show substantial differences between the groups.
References
Dewa, L., Ireland, C., & Ireland, J. (2013). Terror Management Theory: The Influence of Terrorism Salience on Anxiety and the Buffering of Cultural Worldview and Self-esteem. Psychiatry, Psychology And Law , 21 (3), 370-384. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2013.818520
