ORCID Identifier(s)

0000-0002-3130-0343

Graduation Semester and Year

2019

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Communications

Department

Communication

First Advisor

Shelley L. Wigley

Abstract

Efforts to encourage more citizens to join the military is a prominent duty within a military organization. In order to maintain force strength, military recruiters and marketing teams need to persuade the population to join. This study used Terror Management Theory (TMT) and the relationship between the fear of mortality and its effect on motivation toward volunteering for military service in the United States. TMT is a theory that explains how the human psyche combats the fear of mortality, and this study sought to answer how mortality salience affects an individual’s motivation to join the military. TMT’s explanation of defense mechanisms can be partnered with components of Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) in order to refine marketing strategies and increase predictability in the effects of communicating death to potential recruits. Replicating Orit Taubman–Ben-Ari and Liora Findler’s experiment conducted in Israel (2006), this study used an updated motivation scale and a different sample group: American university students instead of Israeli high school males. Although there are differing demographic and cultural variables, it was expected that results would have underlying similarities and contribute to our body of knowledge about the theory. Although the original hypotheses that were tested did not produce significant findings, the general trend revealed that participants who were made aware of their mortality had lower motivation to join the military, enlist as a noncommissioned officer, or pursue a commission as an officer than participants who were not made aware of their mortality. With additional testing, there were two significant findings within the female participant sample. First, females who were not made aware of their mortality were more motivated to enlist in the military than those who were made aware of their mortality. Second, non-service member female participants not made aware of their mortality were more motivated to enlist in the military than non-service member female participants who were made aware of their mortality.

Keywords

Military, Terror management theory

Disciplines

Communication | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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