The Great Escape: The Role of Self-esteem and Self-related Cognition in Terror Management

Integrating terror management theory and objective self-awareness theory, we propose the

existential escape hypothesis, which states that people with low self-esteem should be

especially prone to escaping self-awareness as a distal response to thoughts of death. This is

because they lack the means to bolster the self as a defense, and the propensity to bolster the

self reduces the motivation to escape from self-awareness. Five studies supported this

hypothesis. Individuals low, but not high, in self-esteem scored lower on a measure of private

self-awareness (Study 1), showed less implicit self-activation (Studies 2 & 3), were more

likely to choose to write about others than themselves (Study 4), and consumed more alcohol

in a field study at a nightclub (Study 5) in response to mortality reminders. Implications for

terror management theory (highlighting an additional route to defend against mortality

awareness), self-regulation, physical health and well-being are discussed.