Understanding terror states of online users in the context of COVID-19: An application of Terror Management Theory

The COVID-19 pandemic has provided psych challenges for many in society. One such challenge is the anxiety that is created in many people faced with the risk of death from the disease. Another issue is understanding how individuals cope psychologically with the threat of death from the disease. In this study we examine the manifestation of death anxiety and various coping mechanisms through the lens of terror management theory (TMT) and online platforms. We take a novel approach to testing the theory using big data analytics and machine learning, focusing on the user-generated content of Twitter users. Based on a sample of all tweets in the UK mentioning COVID-19 terms over a 5-month period, we evaluate dictionary mentions of anxiety and death, and various TMT defense mechanisms, and calculate the pattern of latent death anxiety or ‘terror’ states of Twitter users via Hidden Markov Models. The research identifies four online ‘terror’ states, with high death and anxiety mentions during the peak of the pandemic. Further we examine various TMT defense mechanisms that have been proposed in the literature for coping with death anxiety and find that online social connection, achievement and religion all play important roles in improving the model and explaining movement between states. The paper concludes with various implications of the study for future research and practice.