Presenting a grounded procedures perspective in their target article, Lee and Schwarz proposed that engaging in physical acts of separation (e.g., cleansing) or connection (e.g., touching) activates a sense of mental separation or connection by either attenuating the influence of prior experience or mentally connecting one entity to another, respectively. This perspective offers a useful framework for better understanding such processes. We extend this framework by highlighting how people's efforts to manage their concerns about mortality contribute to mental and physical forms of separation and connection.

Terror management theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, Reference Greenberg, Pyszczynski, Solomon and Baumeister1986; Greenberg, Vail, & Pyszczynski, Reference Greenberg, Vail and Pyszczynski2014) proposes that humans are uniquely aware of mortality and that much of human behavior is geared toward managing the potential for anxiety engendered by this awareness. People manage death-related concerns by maintaining faith in both a culturally-derived worldview that imbues life with meaning and purpose and their sense of being valued contributors to that meaningful world (for review, see Routledge & Vess, Reference Routledge and Vess2019). Being so valued provides a sense that one's identity will last beyond physical death through an immortal soul or one's links and contributions to the ongoing culture (e.g., offspring and scientific accomplishments). Supporting research has found that (1) mortality salience (MS) leads people to defend their worldviews and strive for self-esteem (e.g., Arndt, Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, Reference Arndt, Greenberg, Pyszczynski and Solomon1997; Taubman Ben-Ari, Florian, & Mikulincer, Reference Taubman Ben-Ari, Florian and Mikulincer1999; Zestcott, Lifshin, Helm, & Greenberg, Reference Zestcott, Lifshin, Helm and Greenberg2016); (2) bolstering self-esteem or their worldview can prevent typical MS-induced defensiveness (Harmon-Jones et al., Reference Harmon-Jones, Simon, Greenberg, Pyszczynski, Solomon and McGregor1997; Schmeichel & Martens, Reference Schmeichel and Martens2005); and (3) self-esteem and worldview threats increase death-thought accessibility (DTA; Hayes, Schimel, Faucher, & Williams, Reference Hayes, Schimel, Faucher and Williams2008; Schimel, Hayes, Williams, & Jahrig, Reference Schimel, Hayes, Williams and Jahrig2007). Collectively, this work supports the basic tenets of TMT but also points to interesting links between death awareness and both separation and connection behaviors.

Specifically, in line with this research, there are conditions in which (1) MS may motivate physical separation and connection behaviors; (2) engaging in these behaviors may reduce terror management defenses; and (3) certain antecedent events of these behaviors may be tied to increased DTA. One way that people defend against death awareness is by denying the human association with animality; as in most modern cultures, nonhuman animals are not granted the literal or symbolic bases of death transcendence that cultures grant us humans. Research has shown that MS and exposure to stimuli that link humans to animals (e.g., feces, blood, and breast-feeding) can increase disgust, DTA, and physical distancing (for review, see Goldenberg, Morris, & Boyd, Reference Goldenberg, Morris, Boyd, Routledge and Vess2019). Moreover, MS has been shown to increase support for the killing of animals (Lifshin, Greenberg, Zestcott, & Sullivan, Reference Lifshin, Greenberg, Zestcott and Sullivan2017). Other physical separation tactics – such as confining animals or physically distancing oneself from reminders of animality – might also serve this terror management function by bolstering a sense of mental distinction between humans and animals.

Such processes may also be implicated in other domains. For example, research on separation effects has found that social exclusion and exposure to out-group related stimuli can instigate cleansing behavior (e.g., Poon, Reference Poon2019; Reicher, Templeton, Neville, Ferrari, & Drury, Reference Reicher, Templeton, Neville, Ferrari and Drury2016); moreover, engaging in cleansing behaviors can attenuate the mental connection between oneself and prior events (e.g., reducing pessimism after academic failure; Kaspar, Reference Kaspar2012). Relatedly, threats to close relationships, exposure to out-groups, and threats to self-esteem have all been shown to increase DTA, and ameliorating these events – for instance, through affirming one's value or worldview – can reduce DTA (for review, see Hayes, Schimel, Arndt, & Faucher, Reference Hayes, Schimel, Arndt and Faucher2010). Thus, one possibility is that physical acts of connection or separation might also provide a buffering function by enabling people to either feel connected to meaningful and death-transcendent entities or feel mentally disassociated from the threats to one's bases of meaning and personal significance. Indeed, a substantial body of prior literature has shown that MS leads to mental forms of connection – by increasing praise and reward and seeking closeness with those who validate one's worldview and self-worth – as well as mental forms of separation – by increasing derogation of, and physical aggression toward, those with different worldviews (e.g., Cox & Arndt, Reference Cox and Arndt2012; Greenberg et al., Reference Greenberg, Pyszczynski, Solomon, Rosenblatt, Veeder, Kirkland and Lyon1990; McGregor et al., Reference McGregor, Lieberman, Greenberg, Solomon, Arndt, Simon and Pyszczynski1998). Thus, separating and connecting physical acts conferring corresponding mental states clearly sometimes serve a terror management function.

In one study particularly illustrative of this, MS led to more reluctance to engage in (i.e., separating from) acts involving using cultural icons in inappropriate ways (e.g., pouring ink through an American flag; Greenberg, Porteus, Simon, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, Reference Greenberg, Porteus, Simon, Pyszczynski and Solomon1995), as these symbols represent participants' worldview. Similarly, people may feel buffered against death awareness when connecting appropriately with objects representing the culture, and MS may motivate people to seek out such experiences. In doing so, people may feel more mentally connected to these transcendent entities through personal physical connection (e.g., wearing a pin of one's national flag, touching the hand of a cherished religious leader). On the other hand, regarding separation effects, cleansing oneself of existential threats (e.g., destroying the works and monuments of an opposing worldview, throwing away a reminder of a failed attempt toward self-esteem) may re-affirm one's sense of worth and reduce DTA.

Finally, the usefulness of physical acts of separation and connection to manage death-related anxieties, as well as the likelihood of such engagement, might vary across individuals. For example, research has shown that MS increases time spent washing hands for those who rate high (but not those who rate low) on a measure of compulsive hand washing (Menzies & Dar-Nimrod, Reference Menzies and Dar-Nimrod2017; Strachan et al., Reference Strachan, Schimel, Arndt, Williams, Solomon, Pyszczynski and Greenberg2007). Moreover, various forms of physical touch and approach to members of one's culture appear to be effective death-anxiety buffers, especially for those with low self-esteem (e.g., Koole, Tjew, Sin, & Schneider, Reference Koole, Tjew, Sin and Schneider2014). These findings suggest that certain physical acts of separation and connection may be more readily used by some over others to manage death awareness.

Although a comprehensive analysis on the role of mortality concerns in separation and connection effects is beyond the current scope, the research we have reviewed suggests that an integration of the grounded procedures perspective and TMT would be a fruitful basis for future research and a fuller understanding of both acts of separation and connection and how people manage death-related concerns.