Polityka lęku? O możliwości badania polskiego dyskursu politycznego z perspektywy teorii opanowywania trwogi
Politics of fear? On scope for studying of Polish political discourse from the terror management theory perspective

Summary/Abstract: Anxiety is one of the most fundamental social phenomena nowadays. It has important impact on our societies, especially after the terrorist attack of 11/9/2001. It shapes social processes and plays a vital role in political activity. It has also become significant as an object of scientific research. Among many research perspectives that take into account different causes and consequences of anxiety existence in social processes, Terror management theory (TMT) is especially inspiring and promising. According to TMT, human beings are aware of the inevitability of death and that leads them to feel an overwhelming terror. It is managed by the maintenance of cultural worldviews and high self-esteem which allows to return to psychological equanimity. Some attitudes arise when terror appears, for example: high nationalism, high conformism and acceptance for charismatic leaders. This paper considers the possibility of applying TMT in research on Polish political discourse after Smoleńsk plane crash of 10/04/2010. The constant exposition of mortality in the Polish media after the tragic flight in which 96 well known politicians and social leaders, including the President Lech Kaczyński died, should lead to reveal the mechanism described by TMT.

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