Abstract
This chapter considers individual mechanisms to examine the effects of terrorism on political attitudes. The sudden appearance of death in a daily and familiar scenario such as a train station, a crowded promenade or a rock concert makes people think about their own death. Death is a powerful motive of human action, and numerous psychological theories attempt to explain the ways in which the thought of death can affect attitudes and behaviours. This chapter discusses psychological theories (such as Terror Management Theory) and their relevance to understanding the impact of terrorism and related death thoughts on people’s political attitudes, and it formulates theory-consistent hypotheses that will be tested in the next two chapters.
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Vergani, M. (2018). Terrorism and Death. In: How Is Terrorism Changing Us?. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8066-1_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8066-1_5
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