Abstract
Three studies examine hypotheses derived from terror management theory to investigate the relationship between mortality concerns and hero identification. Study 1 found reminders of death, followed by a distraction task and a self-prime, led to greater inclusion of heroes in the self. Study 2 found that writing about a personal hero, but not other’s heroes or acquaintances, led to lower death-thought accessibility after being reminded of mortality. Finally, Study 3 found that after death reminders, participants led to identify with a hero exemplifying traits of legacy and/or sacrifice showed lower death thought accessibility. Findings are discussed as generative for heroism research, informing a previously overlooked motivation underlying hero identification and the existential function of such identification.
Highlights
The Role of Mortality Awareness in Hero Identification The classic story of Don Quixote (Cervantes, 1612) depicts an older gentleman living in the plains of La Mancha, Spain
The present research draws from terror management theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986) to examine (1) whether hero identification is spurred by mortality concerns, and (2) whether hero identification functions to manage existential concerns tethered to the awareness of death
One hundred sixty undergraduate students were randomly assigned to conditions in a 2 (Salience: Mortality vs. failure) X4 (Heroic traits: Legacy linked to self vs. Sacrifice linked to self vs. Legacy and sacrifice linked to self vs. Legacy and sacrifice together not linked to self).We opted for only one control condition in which the heroic portrayal was not linked to the self because we reasoned that if these traits are existentially valuable, this would be most likely when they were presented in tandem
Summary
The Role of Mortality Awareness in Hero Identification The classic story of Don Quixote (Cervantes, 1612) depicts an older gentleman living in the plains of La Mancha, Spain He takes to reading books about heroes of days gone by. Despite the many different directions of terror management research, very little work has examined heroism This is surprising given that was heroism a central topic for Becker (e.g., 1971), but the first empirical TMT paper included a study that assessed reactions to an ostensibly heroic individual. McCabe, Carpenter, and Arndt (2015) theorized that if heroes are culturally valued and death reminders enhance striving for cultural values, death reminders should enhance effort on an ostensibly heroic task They further reasoned that feedback about whether or not one completed the heroic task successfully should predict the extent to which the topic of death continues to be cognitively active.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
