Derogation and distancing as terror management strategies: the moderating role of need for closure and permeability of group boundaries

Previous research has revealed that when individuals are confronted with criticism of a personally relevant group, mortality salience can lead to either derogation of the source of criticism or distancing from the group. In this article, the authors investigated closure as a potential moderator of these reactions. In Study 1, mortality salience led to greater derogation of a critic of a relevant group among high-need-for-closure participants but led to distancing from the group among low need-for-closure participants. Study 2 showed that when a relevant group was criticized, mortality salience led to greater derogation among participants who were led to believe that the boundaries of that group were impermeable but led to greater distancing among participants who were made aware of the permeable nature of the group boundaries. These findings demonstrate that closure of group membership moderates reactions to criticism of a personally relevant group after mortality salience.