Should We Manage Terror—If We Could?

Abstract

Terror Management Theory (TMT) has been revitalizing the traditional study of death anxiety since its introduction in the 1980s. Melding the perspectives of existential philosophy and social science, TMT has stimulated a varied and often creative program of empirical studies. There are methodological limitations to be noted, however, along with a cultural bias, and the neglect of other significant encounters with death in which terror is not the dominant concern. The should or should-not of terror management is viewed from functionalistic and death system as well as TMT perspectives. Suggestions are offered for adaptive responses to primal terror.