Final answer:
According to terror management theory, challenges to one's cultural beliefs are likely to increase prejudice, as people seek to defend their worldview and maintain self-esteem in the face of mortality salience.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to terror management theory, challenges to one's cultural beliefs can lead to various defensive responses. When individuals are primed with reminders of their mortality, which is known as mortality salience, they are likely to show more support for their own cultural worldviews and leaders who espouse them.
This is because our cultural beliefs help us to manage the existential threat posed by the awareness of our eventual death.Experimental research has shown that mortality salience can indeed lead to increased aggression towards those who hold rival beliefs.
It reinforces in-group bias and can result in behaviors such as preferential treatment of the in-group and hostility towards the out-group. Consequently, according to terror management theory, challenges to one's cultural worldview can increase prejudice against those who are different
From us or who we perceive as a threat to the validity of our cultural norms and values.In summary, the answer to the student's question is that challenges to one's cultural beliefs are likely to increase prejudice according to terror management theory.