Death Concerns and Symbolic Aspects of the Self: The Effects of Mortality Salience on Status Concern and Religiosity

Abstract

Terror management theorists have demonstrated that, after thinking about their own death, subjects behave in ways that suggest increased adherence to and defense of prevailing cultural values. The present study extends prior work by assessing the effects of mortality salience on two culturally prescribed value systems: religion and status concern. It was predicted that highly religious and highly status-concerned subjects in the mortality salience condition would report especially high post treatment investments in religion and status concern, respectively. The results partly supported the hypotheses. High status-concerned/highly religious subjects became more status concerned following the mortality salience treatment. The treatment had no significant effects on the post treatment measure of religiosity.