Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript Abstract: The present study sought to determine the conditions under which people were more or less likely to support restrictions on civil liberties in fighting the “War on Terror”. It was hypothesized that the more one identified with the victim of a terrorist attack, the higher their mortality salience (MS) would be, and the more likely they would be to support restricting civil liberties.
Study 1 piloted a questionnaire to measure MS. In Study 2, participants read a story about either a businessperson or student who either went to the dentist for painful dental work, or perished in the attacks of September 11, 2001. Measures were then collected on the degree to which participants identified with the protagonist, their MS, and the degree to which they supported restricting civil liberties in fighting terror.
Results showed that there was a positive correlation between the degree to which one identified with the protagonist (in the 9/11 condition) and MS, however, there was no correlation between identification with the protagonist and support for restricting civil liberties, nor MS and support for restrictions on civil liberties.
