Terror Management Theory (TMT) contends that an awareness of one's mortality can cause debilitating fears in humans, who avoid this potentially incapacitating terror by increasing their faith in relevant cultural worldviews, thus increasing their sense of well-being and security (Solomon, Greenberg, & Pyszczynski, 1991). The current studies attempted to determine whether mortality salience enhances hostile sexism (stereotypes associated with an antipathy toward women) and benevolent sexism (stereotypes associated with protectionist attitudes toward woman), potential worldviews that influence decision-makers' sexual harassment evaluations.; Across three studies, mortality salient participants (primed with mortality-related thoughts), control participants (primed with emotion-based, non-death related thoughts), and neutral participants (neither emotionally nor mortality primed), viewed two sexual harassment films and evaluated the complainants' sexual harassment claims. Hostile and benevolent sexist attitudes were measured using the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (Glick & Fiske, 1996).; Using 62 male and 68 female undergraduates, study one attempted to determine whether mortality salience enhances hostile sexist attitudes (which should result in lower sexual harassment ratings) and benevolent sexist attitudes (which should increase sexual harassment ratings). Study one showed little impact of mortality salience on harassment decisions. Study two strengthened mortality salience by engaging 80 males and 83 females in either experiential processing (a gut-level, heuristic-based cognitive style) or rational processing (a deliberative, in-depth cognitive style), components of the Cognitive Experiential Self-Theory (Epstein & Pacini, 1999). Mortality salience had spurious and contradictory effects in study two, though intriguing processing effects emerged for females, with experientially processing females using their hostile and benevolent sexist beliefs to a greater extent than rationally processing females. Processing did not impact males. Study three used a legally relevant mechanism to evaluate the impact of mortality salience on sexual harassment, altering the legal standard with which 78 males and 82 females evaluated harassment. Half the participants used the reasonable woman standard while remaining participants used the reasonable person standard. Standard and mortality salience had little impact, though hostile sexism predicted lower harassment ratings.
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