We are currently experiencing an enormous increase in societal polarization. This reality manifests as schisms between cultural and religious groups, like those for and against the right to have an abortion, or those for and against care for the underprivileged. The cultural tension manifests as strong discrimination against immigrants, foreigners, and anyone “other,” leaving many feeling a sense of increased anxiety, a lack of personal safety, dread of the unknown, and fear of imminent danger and threat.

One way to understand some of these behaviors and responses is through the lens of Terror Management Theory (TMT). TMT hypothesizes that as we attempt to protect ourselves from the unbearable awareness of our own mortality, which is ultimately what being threatened boils down to. Then we repress our fear of death by burying it deeply into our unconscious.

Another defense against an unconscious fear of annihilation is to identify more strongly with the dominant culture. We crave the status quo and lean into our seemingly solid institutions and values, whether they are corrupt or not. TMT tells us that because the dominant culture appears as something greater than us, something that will outlive us as individuals, it functions as symbolic immortality. This affords us some temporary protection from death awareness. In the process, we tend to pull back from anything or anyone who is different or unfamiliar. We may even end up denigrating and, if necessary, destroying what is perceived as a threat to what we are used to. These behaviors can lead to deep societal fragmentation, inhumane scapegoating, and rampant polarization.

What triggers some of these unconsciously driven defense mechanisms? What evokes in us a fear of eradication? One does not have to look far. Climate........

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