Death-related Thoughts Research Articles

Thoughts of death affect reward learning by modulating salience network activity

Thoughts of death substantially influence human behavior and psychological well-being. A large number of behavioral studies have shown evidence that asking individuals to think about death or mortality salience leads to significant changes of their behaviors. These findings support the well-known terror management theory to account for the psychological mechanisms of existential anxiety. However, despite increasing findings of mortality salience effects on human behavior, how the brain responds to reminders of mortality and changes the activity underlying subsequent behavior remains poorly understood. By scanning healthy adults (N = 80) of both sexes using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we showed that, relative to reading emotionally neutral sentences, reading sentences that evoke death-related thoughts decreased the salience network activity, reduced the connectivity between the cingulate cortex and other brain regions during a subsequent resting state, and dampened the speed of learning reward-related objects and cingulate responses to loss feedback during a subsequent reward learning task. In addition, the decreased resting-state cingulate connectivity mediated the association between salience network deactivations in response to reminders of mortality and suppressed cingulate responses to loss feedback. Finally, the suppressed cingulate responses to loss feedback further predicted the dampened speed of reward learning. Our findings demonstrate sequential modulations of the salience network activity by mortality salience, which provide a neural basis for understanding human behavior under mortality threat.

Influence of the fear of death on body image evaluation.

Background: Research on the consequences of fear of death often consists of classical investigations within the sphere of social psychology. However, the aspect of body image regarding this issue remains largely unexplored. Aim of the study: The goal of the conducted experiment was to examine the mechanisms reducing the fear of death. The respondents had two options to choose from: (1) increasing self-esteem in terms of physical attractiveness, or (2) lowering the rating of the body image presented in the photographs. Material and methods: The study was conducted using the following tests: (1) the Memory Test, developed by Łukaszewski and Buczny; (2) the Body-Esteem Scale (BE S), developed by Franzoi and Shields; (3) the UMACL Mood Adjective Checklist, developed by Mathews, Chamberlain, and Jones; and (4) the Body Shape Attractiveness Questionnaire. In this report, we present results of an analysis of 221 respondents (108 women and 113 men). Results: Death-related thoughts influence the perception of female body attractiveness. Respondents with awareness of mortality salience rated the attractiveness of body shape as lower than respondents from the control group. Conclusions: The present experiment confirmed the influence of fear of death on the evaluation of cultural and biological standards of female physical attractiveness, as well as, the hesitation of participants’ self-esteem and mood related to sex. The lack of critical evaluation of others and a positive self-evaluation effectively protects an individual against mood deterioration, and these effects were observed among men. However, these mechanisms do not apply to women, since women reacted critically to both body shapes in the photographs and their own bodies.

Reducing defensive responses to thoughts of death: Meditation, mindfulness, and Buddhism.

Three studies investigated the effects of meditation on responses to reminders of death. Study 1 took a quasi-experimental approach, comparing defensive responses to mortality salience (MS) of South Korean participants with varying levels of experience with Buddhism and meditation. Whereas non-Buddhists without meditation showed the typical increase in worldview defense after mortality salience (MS), this effect was not found among non-Buddhists immediately after an initial meditation experience, nor among lay Buddhists who meditated regularly or Buddhist monks with intensive meditation experience. Study 2, a fully randomized experiment, showed that MS increased worldview defense among South Koreans at a meditation training who were assessed before meditating but not among participants assessed after their first meditation experience. Study 3 showed that whereas American students without prior meditation experience showed increased worldview defense and suppression of death-related thoughts after MS, these effects were eliminated immediately after an initial meditation experience. Death thought accessibility mediated the effect of MS on worldview defense without meditation, but meditation eliminated this mediation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The Effect of Mortality Salience on Attitudes Toward National Outgroups

Psychological studies show the effect of mortality salience (MS) on attitudes and behavioral patterns in different spheres of social life, particularly, in intergroup relationships. This study examines the influence of MS on attitudes toward national outgroups. In line with terror management theory (TMT), previous studies indicate a contradictory impact of death-related thoughts. Reminders of death enhance unfavorable attitudes toward all national outgroups, however, MS reinforces the negative attitudes only toward unfriendly countries or toward those perceived as threatening. To shed light on the influence of MS, we conducted two experimental studies that were differentiated by MS manipulation and the specifics of the outgroups. In Study 1 we actualized the reminders of death through military news, whereas in Study 2 by the presentation of terrorism news (close and distant). In Study 1 (N = 180) we analyzed the impact of MS on attitudes toward Ukraine, Belarus, and Estonia. The results showed that MS mostly reinforced the unfavorable attitudes toward ‘unfriendly’ and ‘neutral’ countries. Study 2 (N = 242) focused on MS and attitudes toward Ukraine, Belarus, the USA, and China. The results indicated that MS enhanced negative attitudes toward Ukraine as an ‘unfriendly’ country. However, the close or distant terrorism-related content did not illustrate the specific influence on attitudes toward national outgroups

Subjective nearness-to-Death, filial obligations, and depressive symptoms: the case of Jews and Arabs in Israel

Objectives: Research has examined the link between subjective perceptions of life and death and psychological well-being. However, while cultural values were shown to provide a defense against death-related thoughts, little is known about specific cultural expectations with regard to this issue. Accordingly, the current study focused on two sub-cultures within the Israeli society, and examined whether filial obligations moderate the connection between subjective nearness-to-death and depressive symptoms. Moreover, the study also examined whether this moderating effect is culture-dependent, by examining differences between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel.Method: Data were collected from 337 participants, two-thirds of which were Jewish. Age ranged from 45 to 65 (M = 52.32, SD =4.49). All participants filled out scales examining subjective nearness-to-death, filial piety, and depressive symptoms.Results: Filial piety did not moderate the connection between subjective nearness-to-death and depressive symptoms for the entire cohort. However, a significant three-way interaction of cultural group × filial piety × subjective nearness-to-death was found, and further analyses demonstrated that filial piety served as a significant moderator among Jews, but not among Arabs.Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of examining subjective perceptions of mortality in a cultural context, as culture was shown to affect how such perceptions are connected with depressive symptoms. These effects are discussed from the framework of terror management theory within the context of the Israeli society, and future directions are suggested.

Reminders of Mortality Alter Pain-Evoked Potentials in a Chinese Sample.

Pain is of evolutionary importance to human survival. However, the perception of pain could be changed when death-related thoughts are accessible. Although the influence of mortality salience (MS) on pain processing has been investigated in Westerners recently, it is unclear whether this effect is constrained by specific culture context since humans may employ cultural worldviews to defend the existence problem. The current study tested whether and how MS affected pain processing in a Chinese male sample. We primed participants with sentences indicating MS or negative affect (NA) on either of two days. Both before and after the priming, event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by painful and non-painful electrical stimulations were recorded. Results showed that pain-evoked potentials were identified as an early negative complex N60-P90-N130 and a late positivity P260. Pain-evoked N130 after MS priming was larger than that after NA priming. Meanwhile, pain-evoked P260 decreased after MS priming but not after NA priming. These findings indicate that reminders of mortality affect both early sensory and late cognitive neural responses related to physical pain. Although previous studies reporting an increased effect of MS on perceived pain intensity in Westerners, we found an unchanged or possibly reduced effect in Chinese. Thus, the current work provides insight into a culture-sensitive perspective on how pain processing would be modulated when existential problem occurs.

Does death make us all equal? Materialism and status-seeking under Mortality Salience

The thought of one’s own death induces anxiety and threatens self-esteem. According to Terror Management Theory (TMT), to reduce this existential threat individuals (1) adhere more strongly to their cultural worldview and (2) embrace behaviors aimed at boosting self-esteem. Previous psychological studies of TMT do not generally rely on incentive-compatible mechanisms. However, economic incentives are strong drivers of individuals’ behavior and need to be studied along with intrinsic motivations. Here, we combined—for the first time—a real effort task with psychological priming techniques. Crucially, we adopted a “flat-wage” scheme to investigate whether individuals primed with death-related thoughts, i.e., a Mortality Salience (MS) induction, increase their individual productivity more than individuals primed with a control topic (Music salience induction). We also investigated whether the effect of MS on performance is mainly driven by the quest for self-esteem vs. status-seeking, providing either private or public feedback on performance. Participants generally showed lower performance levels in the MS compared to the control condition. Public feedback bolstered performance, but its effect was milder under MS. These results suggest that in the absence of economic incentives to perform, individuals do not generally increase effort and productivity; they rather adhere more tightly to cultural (materialistic) worldviews, avoiding effort that is not compensated. The effect of MS, indeed, was strongly influenced by individual materialism.

Both the Survival Scenario and the Death Scenario Improve Memory Recall Regardless of the Processing/Priming Paradigm.

Memory researchers have suggested human's memory system can help us remember adaptive information conducive to survival and avoiding death. However, in previous studies, the “survival-” orienting task and the “death-” orienting task were adopted in different paradigms. Specifically, the survival-related task was adopted in a processing paradigm, in which participants were instructed to process words in terms of its relevance of survival value, while the death-related task was adopted in a priming paradigm, in which participants were first placed in a death-salient state, and then rated the pleasantness of each word without encoding its death value. The current study aimed to explore whether death scenarios improve recall as much as survival scenarios regardless of the processing/priming paradigm. In Experiment 1, we compared a survival scenario, a death scenario and a control scenario in both processing and priming paradigms. Our results showed that: (a) both survival-related thoughts and death-related thoughts could improve memory recall, both in processing and in priming paradigms; and (b) participants' proportion of correct recall did not show difference between the survival and the death conditions. In Experiment 2, we used a more detailed control scenario and showed that both the death scenario and the survival scenario yielded higher recall than the control scenario in the priming paradigm. Together, our results suggest that both survival and death scenarios have a similar effect on memory recall regardless of the processing/priming paradigms.

Death thoughts mediate ostracism mood reduction: The moderating role of marital status

Ostracism is known to cause psychological distress; however, it remains unclear why ostracism evokes this response. Two experiments tested empirically whether fear of death mediates ostracism distress (mood) and whether marital status moderates this role. A total of 345 participants played Cyberball with two other ostensible players. After the game, accessibility of death-related thoughts was assessed by a word completion task, and a mood questionnaire was used to measure their distress. Death thoughts fully mediated ostracism distress. Marital status moderated this mediation effect in that no moderation was observed in married participants, suggesting that marriage may buffer death anxiety. The discussion centers on the ways in which these findings contribute to the ostracism and terror management literature by providing empirical evidence that death thoughts mediate ostracism distress, and the moderating effects of marriage on this mediation effect.

Evoked Death-Related Thoughts in the Aftermath of Terror Attack: The Associations Between Mortality Salience Effect and Adjustment Disorder.

ICD-11 has provided a revised definition for adjustment disorder (AjD). The current study examined whether mortality salience effect, a possible consequence of a terror attack, may serve as a significant predictor associated with each of the AjD subscales. Using an online survey, 379 adult participants were recruited and filled out self-reported questionnaires dealing with adjustment disorder symptoms as well as mortality salience effect. Findings revealed that mortality salience effect was a significant predictor of all AjD subscales. The importance of mortality salience effect for AjD is discussed in light of terror management theory.

The Impact of Topic Characteristics and Threat on Willingness to Engage with Wikipedia Articles: Insights from Laboratory Experiments.

A growing body of research aims to identify the factors that motivate people to make contributions in Wikipedia. We conducted two laboratory experiments to investigate the connections between topic characteristics, perception of threat, and willingness to engage with Wikipedia articles. In Study 1 (N = 83), we examined how topic familiarity, topic controversiality, and mortality salience influenced participants’ willingness to engage with Wikipedia articles. We presented the introduction parts of 20 Wikipedia articles and asked participants to rate each article with respect to familiarity and controversiality. In addition, we experimentally manipulated participants’ level of mortality salience in terms of the amount of threat they experienced when reading the article. Participants also indicated their willingness to engage with a particular article. The results revealed that familiar and controversial topics increased the willingness to engage with Wikipedia articles. Although mortality salience increased accessibility of death-related thoughts, it did not result in any changes in people’s willingness to work with the articles. The aim of Study 2 (N = 90) was to replicate the effects of topic characteristics by following a similar procedure. We additionally manipulated uncertainty salience by assigning participants to three experimental conditions: uncertainty salience, certainty salience, and non-salience. As expected, familiar and controversial topics were of high interest in terms of willingness to contribute. However, the manipulation of uncertainty salience did not yield any significant results despite the emergence of negative emotional states. In sum, we demonstrated that topic characteristics were factors that substantially influenced people’s willingness to engage with Wikipedia articles whereas perceived threat was not.

A new stress sensor and risk factor for suicide: the T allele of the functional genetic variant in the GABRA6 gene

Low GABA transmission has been reported in suicide, and GABRA6 rs3219151 T allele has been associated with greater physiological and endocrine stress response in previous studies. Although environmental stress also plays a role in suicide, the possible role of this allele has not been investigated in this respect. In our present study effect of rs3219151 of GABRA6 gene in interaction with recent negative life events on lifetime and current depression, current anxiety, as well as lifetime suicide were investigated using regression models in a white European general sample of 2283 subjects. Post hoc measures for phenotypes related to suicide risk were also tested for association with rs3219151 in interaction with environmental stress. No main effect of the GABRA6 rs3219151 was detected, but in those exposed to recent negative life events GABRA6 T allele increased current anxiety and depression as well as specific elements of suicide risk including suicidal and death-related thoughts, hopelessness, restlessness and agitation, insomnia and impulsiveness as measured by the STOP task. Our data indicate that stress-associated suicide risk is elevated in carriers of the GABRA6 rs3219151 T allele with several independent markers and predictors of suicidal behaviours converging to this increased risk.

Posting from beyond the grave: An autopsy of consumer attitudes toward promotional communication in a posthumous context

It is now common for consumers to mourn and commemorate deceased celebrities on social networking sites (SNS). In addition to grieving messages, however, celebrities' posthumous SNS increasingly include promotional content; late celebrities, from Marilyn Monroe to David Bowie, regularly tweet or post promotional messages from the afterlife. The aim of this paper is to explore consumer attitudes toward marketing communication in a posthumous environment. Prior research has consistently documented consumers' rejection of marketing activities in other sacred environments. By investigating the interaction effect of celebrity attachment (fans vs. non-fans) and death salience on celebrities' posthumous SNS, this research is the first to identify a positive response to marketing communication in a sacred environment. Three experimental studies demonstrate that although both fans and non-fans react negatively to promotional messages when death is salient, over time, celebrity attachment diminishes death salience and fosters a positive response of fans toward promotional messages on celebrities' posthumous SNS. Celebrity attachment may favor artificial immortality and, as such, distance the late celebrity from death-related thoughts.

Ebola salience, death-thought accessibility, and worldview defense: A terror management theory perspective

ABSTRACTAccording to terror management theory, individuals defend their cultural beliefs following mortality salience. The current research examined whether naturally occurring instances of death (i.e., Ebola) correspond to results found in laboratory studies. The results of two experiments demonstrated that participants experienced a greater accessibility of death-related thoughts in response to an Ebola prime during a regional outbreak. Study 2 also showed that increased mortality awareness following an Ebola manipulation was associated with greater worldview defense (i.e., religious fundamentalism). Together, these results suggest that reminders of death in the form of a disease threat operate similarly to a mortality salience manipulation.

Dysphoria, Failure, and Suicide: Level of Depressive Symptoms Moderates Effects of Failure on Implicit Thoughts of Suicide and Death

Building on escape and terror management theories, we reasoned that after failure the desire to escape the self (as reflected in suicide-thought accessibility) would dominate among dysphoric students, while fear of death (as indexed by death-thought accessibility) would dominate among nondysphoric students. The present study (N = 82 college students) examined this hypothesis. As expected, dysphoric students showed greater accessibility of suicide-related thoughts than of death-related thoughts after failure to attain a high standard of intelligence. In contrast, in the same situation, nondysphoric students showed greater accessibility of death- related thoughts than of suicide-related thoughts. The results suggest that dysphoric individuals are particularly vulnerable to suicide-related thoughts after failure, indicating that desire to escape may surpass death anxiety in this context. These results offer a fine-grained analysis of the impact of failure on implicit thoughts of death and suicide and help to...

Death anxiety and ageist attitudes are related to trainees’ interest in working with older adults

ABSTRACTObjectives: To explore how psychology trainee death concerns and ageist behavior relate to their willingness and desire to work with older adults. Method: Trainees (N = 104; 80.8% women) completed the Death Thought-Accessibility Measure, Relating to Older People Evaluation (ROPE), Death Anxiety Scale-Extended (DASE), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and rated their willingness and desire to work with older adults and their willingness to obtain training on how to work with older adults. Results: Pearson correlations showed that salience of death-related thoughts, death anxiety (but not general anxiety), and negative behaviors toward older adults were significantly negatively associated with trainees’ willingness and desire to work with older adults. Regressions revealed that negative behaviors toward older adults was the strongest factor associated with willingness and desire to work with older adults, whereas positive behaviors toward older adults was the strongest factor associated with being willing to obtain training in working with older adults. Death anxiety and salience of death-related thoughts positively correlated with each other and were each positively associated with negative behaviors toward older adults. Conclusion: Helping graduate trainees become more comfortable with mortality and changing negative behaviors toward older adults may increase their interest in gerontology and geriatrics.

Death across the lifespan: Age differences in death-related thoughts and anxiety

ABSTRACTMany studies have found age-related declines in death-related anxiety. Why do death-related thoughts and anxiety decline across the lifespan when exposure to, and likelihood of, death increase over time? In Study 1, a cross-sectional survey of 2,363 adults, death-related thoughts declined across the lifespan. In Study 2, a longitudinal study of 9,815 adults followed over a 4-year period, death anxiety declined across the lifespan. Further, greater social support predicted lower levels of death anxiety over time, after controlling for self-rated health and chronic illnesses. Close relationships serve emotion regulation functions to decrease death anxiety and thoughts across the lifespan.

The memory remains: How heavy metal fans buffer against the fear of death.

Heavy metal music is often associated with death and dying by nonfans whereas members of this subculture report that listening to metal music is their escape from depression and even helpful against death-related thoughts. According to terror management theory, self-esteem and cultural worldview serve as a symbolic, 2-component buffer system working against the fear of death. What remains unclear in recent research on terror management theory is if (a) the presentation of cultural goods directly after mortality salience is enough to help against the fear of death or if the buffer components still need to be activated and (b) if the activation of 1 buffer component is enough. Metal music can be seen as cultural good for fans and thereby can form part of their social identity. Two studies investigated whether heavy metal music is able to serve as a cultural worldview buffer against existential anguish by using implicit measurements. In Study 1, we found that fans had no further need to increase their cultural worldview but only if they listened to metal music after the induction of mortality salience. Results of Study 2 revealed that metal music made further support of self-esteem unnecessary for fans whereas nonfans still had the need to increase their self-esteem.

When fear of cancer recurrence becomes a clinical issue: a qualitative analysis of features associated with clinical fear of cancer recurrence.

Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is a common experience for cancer survivors. However, it remains unclear what characteristics differentiate non-clinical from clinical levels of FCR. The goal of this study was to investigate the potential hallmarks of clinical FCR. A convenience sample of 40 participants (n = 19 female) was drawn from another study (Lebel et al. in Qual Life Res 25:311-321. doi: 10.1007/s11136-015-1088-2 , 2016). The semi-structured interview for fear of cancer recurrence (Simard and Savard in J Cancer Surviv 9:481-491. doi: 10.1007/s11764-015-0424-4 , 2015) was used to identify participants with non-clinical and clinical FCR and qualitative analysis of these interviews was performed. Individuals with clinical FCR reported the following features: death-related thoughts, feeling alone, belief that the cancer would return, experiencing intolerance of uncertainty, having cancer-related thoughts and imagery that were difficult to control, daily and recurrent, lasted 30minutes or more, increased over time, caused distress and impacted their daily life. Triggers of FCR and coping strategies did not appear to be features of clinical FCR as they were reported by participants with a range of FCR scores. While features of clinical FCR found in this analysis such as intrusive thoughts, distress and impact on functioning confirmed previous FCR research, other features spontaneously emerged from the interviews including "death-related thoughts," "feeling alone," and "belief that the cancer will return." The participants' descriptions of cancer-specific fear and worry suggest that FCR is a distinct phenomenon related to cancer survivorship, despite similarities with psychological disorders (e.g., Anxiety Disorders). Future research investigating the construct of FCR, and the distinguishing features of clinical FCR across a range of cancer types and gender is required.

The association between vivid thoughts of death and authenticity

Many theoretical perspectives link death-related thoughts to authenticity; however, there is little empirical research directly examining this association. The current studies examined how recalling a vivid experience associated with mortality relates to outcomes indicative of authentic engagement. In Study 1, participants described an experience that made them think about their mortality, indicated how vivid their recollection was, and completed measures of authenticity and goal-pursuit. Results indicated that how vividly a mortality experience was recalled predicted greater authenticity and more important goal-pursuits. Study 2 replicated many of the findings and found a similar pattern when individuals vividly recalled a mortality experience of a close other. Study 3 again replicated these results after controlling for a host of death-related variables. Exploratory analyses further revealed that ruminating about death was often negatively associated with authenticity. Implications for the role of death-related thoughts in authentic and alienated becoming are discussed.