Pandemic of Fear: Understanding how People Cope with the Idea of Death during a Pandemic

Abstract

Due to the worldwide spread of SARS-CoV-2 (commonly referred to as COVID-19), the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global pandemic in March 2020. Referring to the Terror Management Health Model for Pandemics (TMHMP), we obtained qualitative empirical findings to understand real-life experience of customer-facing frontline workers during the pandemic. Customer-facing employees encountered a new challenge in dealing with customers and safeguarding themselves from the spread of virus, while processing anxieties that a heightened state of mortality salience can provoke. Using the TMHMP, we aim to understand how essential frontline employees cope with the fear and anxiety of death during the pandemic. We leverage thematic analysis of interview transcriptions to identify salient themes. We take an interpretative approach to encompass social theories to understand the events from the perspective of the frontline workers. The practical implication of our study is to help employers craft communications for future pandemics in order to better manage employees' emotional and behavioral responses. We contribute to theory by providing the first empirical findings to support the TMHMP; along with novel insight into the nature of Terror Management Theory, including Actionable Proximal Defenses (APD) and Internal Proximal Defenses (IPD).

Keywords: Terror Management Theory, Terror Management Health Model, Terror Management Health Model for Pandemics, COVID-19, Fear