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VangCorne-Dissertation-Final-16.pdf (3.96 MB)

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Identity and Death Threats: An Investigation of Social Identity and Terror Management Processes in Online News

Vang-Corne, Mao H.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1452210610

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Communication.
When people experience reminders of their mortality, anxiety heightens. This, in turn, can increase worldview defenses such as outgroup derogation. In this experiment, White participants (N = 190) read an online news story that presented a death threat (death threat, non-death threat) and identity threat (White threat, Black threat, race-neutral threat) manipulation. Following exposure to the experimental manipulation, participants completed measures of anxiety, specific self-esteem, and worldview defense. A multicategorical moderation supported the integration of specific self-esteem in social identity processes. The findings from moderated mediation analyses support previous terror management research (Greenberg et al., 1997): When exposure to a death threat has not been sufficiently suppressed, anxiety from the threat can manifest in worldview defenses. Results demonstrate that specific self-esteem buffers anxiety elicited from threats unrelated to racial identity. Implications include identity processes by which the effects of threat can be mitigated.
Jesse Fox (Advisor)
Lanier Holt (Committee Member)
Nancy Rhodes (Committee Member)
Zheng Wang (Committee Member)
137 p.
Communication; Journalism; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Psychology; Social Psychology; Social Research; Statistics; Web Studies
terror management theory; social identity theory; mortality salience; death threat; identity threat; anxiety; self-esteem; anxiety buffer; worldview defenses; online news; moderated mediation; online survey; race; categorization

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Vang-Corne, M. H. (2016). Identity and Death Threats: An Investigation of Social Identity and Terror Management Processes in Online News [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1452210610

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Vang-Corne, Mao. Identity and Death Threats: An Investigation of Social Identity and Terror Management Processes in Online News. 2016. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1452210610.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Vang-Corne, Mao. "Identity and Death Threats: An Investigation of Social Identity and Terror Management Processes in Online News." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1452210610

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1452210610
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© 2016, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.