Terror-Management Theory and the Law

Today I made the hike up to the Psychology Building to listen to a lecture. The lecture, by University of Missouri-Columbia professor Jamie Arndt was on the topic of Terror-Management Theory (TMT). The topic of the lecture was "Is Death Hazardous or Good for Your Health?: Understanding the Impact of the Awareness of Mortality on Health-Relevant Behavior". The lecture was quite enjoyable, especially since I am sure I was the only law student there.

The basic premise of TMT (and I apologize to Professor Arndt if I falsely describe it) is that when you combine 1) the human biological need for self-preservation and 2) the fact that humans are unique in their knowledge of the inevitability of death, you get the potential for extreme terror. Some have called it a fear of death or a fear of annihilation. When we reach that point, we respond in one of two ways: we take better care of ourselves (trying to delay our inevitable demise), or we take worse care of ourselves (either through denial or, if death is soon anticipated, risk taking).

The experiments the psychologists in this area are running are quite interesting. Reminding people of their own mortality has been shown to increase their inclination to respond favorably to people who bolster their own worldview and negatively to those who oppose it. One test Dr. Arndt mentioned was a mention of death or cancer to a person who values tanning. The surveys show that they are more inclined to buy higher-SPF sunscreen right after the reminder of their own mortality. My business undergrad instantly kicked in and developed a marketing ploy for sunscreen manufacturers: put up a billboard with the words "Death" and "Skin Cancer" and nothing else. Further down the interstate, perhaps just a few moments later, advertise your product. The inclination will be for the individuals to buy your product, at least theoretically. Such advertising would work as well for churches and exercise clinics.

TMT has some interesting effects in the study of law (or else why would I have attended, other than for pure intellectual stimulation on a Friday afternoon). I am curious how it would impact death row inmates, for example. How would such an effect alter a person's feeling of the necessity for deadly force in self-defense? Are people who are reminded of their inevitable annihilation more likely to commit crimes?

The ideas for journal articles abound. And all I had to do was hike to the north side of campus.