Denying Death: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Terror Management Theory

This volume is the first to showcase the interdisciplinary nature of Terror Management Theory, providing a detailed overview of how rich and diverse the field has become since the late 1980s, and where it is going in the future. It offers perspectives from psychology, political science, communication, health, sociology, business, marketing and cultural studies, among others, and in the process reveals how our existential ponderings permeate our behavior in almost every area of our lives. It will interest a wide range of upper-level students and researchers who want an overview of past and current TMT research and how it may be applied to their own research interests.

Lindsey A. Harvell received her Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma in Social Influence and Political Communication in 2012. She is an assistant professor in the School of Communication Studies and an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Psychology at James Madison University. Dr. Harvell’s research focuses on the extension of terror management theory (TMT) and using existential awareness in persuasive message design. Her research also focuses on political advertising messages and studying the effects of existential awareness on these messages.

Gwendelyn S. Nisbett received her Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma in Social Influence and Political Communication in 2011. She is an assistant professor of strategic communication in the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas. Dr. Nisbett’s research examines the intersection of mediated social influence, political communication, and popular culture. Her research incorporates a multimethods approach to understanding the influence of fandom and celebrity in political and civic engagement.