reference for using Terror Management Theory methods in interdisciplinary environmental research Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/basics/terror-management-theory
“A social psychological theory established by Ernst Becker, which argues that human beings developed cultural worldviews in order to ‘manage’ the terror of being aware of our own deaths and our limited power in the face of nature.
Cultures provide a sense of meaning by offering stories about the origin of the universe and a blueprint for how we should act whilst on Earth, as well as a promise of ‘symbolic immortality’ through amassing money and goods.
Hundreds of TMT studies have found that when reminded of our mortality (through near death experiences, the loss of loved ones, or indeed in the face of crises such as climate change) we become more attached to our preferred worldviews and are more likely to pursue self-esteem as defined by that worldview, which under colonial capitalism is via seeking power over each other and the more than human world.
This field of research is related to what GTDF expresses as humanity’s disconnection from their intrinsic worth. Sociologist Zygmunt Bauman also wrote that to acknowledge death is to undermine modernity’s claim of ‘mastery over nature’.”