When and How Do Daily Mortality Cues Trigger Power-Seeking versus Helping Behavior?

Abstract

Although extant research has shown that mortality cues provoke anxiety-related responses, theories provide diverging perspectives on how mortality cues might impact workplace behaviors. In a healthcare setting, we examine when and how mortality cues prompt power-seeking behavior versus helping behavior on a daily basis. We conducted an 11-day experience sampling study of 102 nurses at intensive care units. Results show that mortality cues experienced at work are related to two distinct pathways—death anxiety and death reflection; death anxiety in turn prompts power-seeking behavior at low levels of job meaningfulness, while death reflection promotes helping behavior when job meaningfulness is high. We extend the literature on workplace mortality cues by providing a balanced model explaining when and how employees demonstrate differential behavioral responses to mortality cues.