Terror Management Theory and Work Life

Öz

Terror Management Theory posits that individuals try to buffer the anxiety that stems from the awareness of being mortal by (1) maintaining high self-esteem that enables people to see themselves as valuable contributors in a meaningful world, and (2) defending their cultural worldviews, thus attaching meaning, permanence, order and stability to their lives. The aforementioned hypotheses of this theory have been empirically tested and investigated in different cultures, taking numerous variables into account. However, effects of mortality salience on work life and concepts related to the work life have not been adequately studied yet. People spend most of their lives at work. Therefore the organization they are working for might as well influence their social identity. So, organizational identification and commitment might be considered as important sources for buffering death anxiety, which is an existential threat. The main purposes of this article are to introduce Terror Management Theory by reviewing certain experimental research, and to evaluate the reflections of the theory on work life. With this purpose in mind, the research, in which the main hypotheses of Terror Management Theory were tested on variables related to work life such as organizational identification, will be presented.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Terror management theory,Social identity; Cultural worldview; Self-esteem; Work life; Organization

Dehşet Yönetimi Kuramı ve İş Yaşamı

Öz

İnsanların ölümlülüklerine yönelik farkındalıklarının yarattığı ölüm korkusunun (dehşet), özsaygı ve/veya kültürel dünya görüşüne artan bir aidiyetle bağlanma isteğiyle hafifletilebileceğini ileri süren Dehşet Yönetimi Kuramı, Türkiye de dahil olmak üzere farklı ülkelerde yapılan birçok deneysel çalışma ile test edilmiştir. Ancak, çeşitli kültürlerde ve farklı değişkenlerle deneysel olarak test edilen kuram, insanların günlük yaşamlarının önemli bir bölümünü kapsayan iş yaşamında ve bu yaşamın beraberinde getirdiği özellikler ve kavramlar bağlamında pek çalışılmamıştır. Belirli bir şirkette ya da örgütte çalışıyor olmanın önemli bir sosyal kimliğe işaret etmesi nedeniyle; bireylerin çalıştıkları şirket ya da örgütlerle özdeşleşmelerinin ve bu içgrupları destekleyen davranışlar sergilemelerinin de varoluşsal bir tehdit olan ölümlülük farkındalığı ile baş etmede önemli bir kaynak olabileceği düşünülmektedir. Bu bağlamda, mevcut çalışmanın amacı, öncelikle Dehşet Yönetimi Kuramının temel varsayımlarını belli başlı araştırmaları sunarak tanıtmak ve söz konusu kuramsal yaklaşımın iş yaşamındaki yansımalarını değerlendirmektir. Bu amaçla, kuramın temel varsayımlarının bireylerin çalıştıkları şirket ya da örgüt kimlikleri üzerinde test edildiği ve yine bireylerin iş yaşamındaki davranışları ve örgüt kimliği üzerindeki etkilerini araştıran çalışmalar aktarılacaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Dehşet yönetimi kuramı,Sosyal kimlik,Kültürel dünya görüşü,Özsaygı,İş yaşamı,Örgüt

Kaynakça

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