From fear to meaning: terror management, cultural worldview, and collective dynamics in the context of war

KATERYNA MALTSEVA, Dr. habilis in Sociology, Professor, Department of Sociology, NaUKMA (8/5, Build. 4, Volos`ka St., Kyiv, 04655); Affiliated Researcher, Centre for the Study of Ukraine, Durham University, (United Kingdom)

maltsevaKS@ukma.edu.ua

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6540-8734

SCOPUS ID: 12139513400

Humans navigate existential anxiety provoked by mortality awareness through complex psychological networks designed to make life feel more manageable. The evolutionary foundations of terror management reveal how self-esteem, cultural worldviews, and structured belief systems serve as buffers against death-related cognitions. Culture and religion play critical roles in providing meaning, reassurance, and pathways to symbolic immortality, highlighting their psychological functions in mitigating existential anxiety. During wartime, heightened psychological pressures emerge as mortality salience influences collective identity, in-group cohesion, and intergroup conflict, ultimately shaping values and behavior in high-stakes contexts.

Armed conflict introduces some of the most severe and destabilizing stressors an imaginable. War poses life-threatening conditions, impacting individuals through intense emotional responses — such as fear, distress, and grief — alongside physical suffering, material and personal loss, and constant need to adapt to deprivation. Because war endangers both civilians and military personnel and leaves lasting scares that continue to afflict its victims long after the war ends, the stressors associated with the hostilities of war rank among the most profoundly traumatic experiences a person can endure. Under these circumstances, individuals experience heightened and more frequent awareness of their mortality and vulnerability, making fear for one’s life more intense and accessible.

The psychological and social impacts of heightened awareness of wartime mortality illustrate how identity fusion and the construction of specific narratives shape responses to existential threats and influence their behavioral expressions. According to Terror Management Theory (TMT), symbolic systems such as cultural and national narratives serve as buffers against death awareness. With them, a person maintains functional self-esteem and everyday meaning coherence. When a worldview is challenged, people tend to reaffirm their shared values and strengthen their identification with their group.

TМТ and identity fusion provide a complex yet subtle understanding of how exposure to war-related stress affects psychological adaptation, collective resilience, and the maintenance of meaning in the face of ongoing danger. The shared experience of external life threats and aggression reinforces social bonds and enhances the psychological adaptation necessary for navigating life in a country that is at war. Ultimately, studying these dynamics can shed light on how the people of Ukraine are enduring the immediate challenges of conflict and working towards a future where their values remain intact, even in the face of adversity.

Keywords: Terror Management Theory, culture, life threat, armed conflict

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Received 01.11.2025

Accepted for publication after review 15.03.2026