DOCSLIB.ORG

Greed, Death, and Values: from Terror Management to Transcendence Management Theory

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Greed, Death, and Values: from Terror Management to Transcendence Management Theory 10.1177/0146167203260716PERSONALITYCozzolino et al. /AND GREED, SOCIAL DEATH, PSYCHOLOGY AND VALUES BULLETIN ARTICLE Greed, Death, and Values: From Terror Management to Transcendence Management Theory Philip J. Cozzolino University of Minnesota Angela Dawn Staples Lawrence S. Meyers Jamie Samboceti California State University, Sacramento Research supporting terror management theory has shown that concepts: value orientation and reactions to death participants facing their death (via mortality salience) exhibit awareness. more greed than do control participants. The present research attempts to distinguish mortality salience from other forms of VALUE ORIENTATION mortality awareness. Specifically, the authors look to reports of Early humanistic theorists such as Maslow (1954) and near-death experiences and posttraumatic growth which reveal Rogers (1963) first addressed the motives that fuel and that many people who nearly die come to view seeking wealth and guide attempts to fulfill goals and needs. Maslow (1954) possessions as empty and meaningless. Guided by these reports, suggested that human existence could only make sense a manipulation called death reflection was generated. In when individuals sought to achieve goals tied to their Study 1, highly extrinsic participants who experienced death inherent developmental promise. These goals include reflection exhibited intrinsic behavior. In Study 2, the manipu- personal growth, good health, a sense of autonomy, and lation was validated, and in Study 3, death reflection and mor- a desire to know oneself. Maslow went further, compar- tality salience manipulations were compared. Results showed ing “healthy individuals” who seek inner freedom in that mortality salience led highly extrinsic participants to mani- favor of external approval to “sick, neurotic people who fest greed, whereas death reflection again generated intrinsic, make the wrong choices” (p. 278). This humanistic per- unselfish behavior. The construct of value orientation is dis- spective posits that when focusing on goals stemming cussed along with the contrast between death reflection manipu- from external instead of internal forces (e.g., pursuits of lation and mortality salience. wealth instead of desires for insight) people are likely to falter along the path to self-actualization. Expanding this Keywords: greed; death reflection; mortality salience Authors’ Note: Angela Dawn Staples is now at the Department of Psy- chology, Indiana University, Bloomington. The authors thank Marti espite generations of poets, philosophers, and reli- Hope Gonzales for her comments on an early draft of this article and D Christopher M. Federico for statistical consultation. This article also gious leaders decrying the “deadly sin” of greed, much of greatly benefited from helpful comments provided by two anonymous humanity is presently engaged in a consumer-based eco- reviewers. A portion of this article was presented at the 2003 meeting of nomic system that is most successful when citizens want the Western Psychological Association in Vancouver, British Columbia, and seek to have. Public revelations of greed on the part Canada. Correspondence concerning this article should be ad- of a few corporate executives have recently left indivi- dressed to Philip J. Cozzolino, Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455; e-mail: duals asking, “What is it that makes some people strive [email protected]. for excessive gains while knowingly leaving less for oth- PSPB, Vol. 30 No. 3, March 2004 278-292 ers?” In attempts to distinguish the psychological fac- DOI: 10.1177/0146167203260716 tors that drive greed, recent research has focused on two © 2004 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc. 278 Downloaded from http://psp.sagepub.com at UNIV OF ROCHESTER LIBRARY on June 11, 2008 © 2004 Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. PDF processed with CutePDF evaluation edition www.CutePDF.com Cozzolino et al. / GREED, DEATH, AND VALUES 279 thought, self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, p. 64). For humans living in capital-based cultures, one 1991) proposes that meeting the fundamental needs of potential form of immortality seeking is excessive striv- competence, autonomy, and relatedness can lead us to ing for wealth. Terror management research has shown achieve what is known as psychological integration. that when participants are reminded of their mortal- When individuals satisfy native needs and approach inte- ity they become much more likely to defend their gration, they experience greater levels of well-being and worldviews. motivation. When, however, these needs are not met, Terror management research activates death aware- people yield to external drives for wealth and posses- ness in participants through a manipulation called mor- sions (Deci & Ryan, 2000). tality salience. In operationally defining mortality Kasser and Ryan (1993) found support for self- salience, researchers have exposed participants to gory determination theory when participants seeking self- video scenes, funeral homes, and fear of death invento- acceptance and relatedness exhibited greater adjustment ries (Greenberg, Pyszczynski, Solomon, Simon, & Breus, and social productivity and fewer behavioral disorders 1994; Nelson, Moore, Olivetti, & Scott, 1997). A com- than those aspiring for financial success. From these mon method of operationalizing mortality salience, results, Kasser and Ryan differentiated between intrinsic however, takes the form of open-ended questions ask- and extrinsic values. Individuals with an intrinsic value ing individuals to express the feelings and thoughts orientation (IVO) characteristically desire self-knowledge, they experience when thinking about their own death intimacy, and connections in the community, whereas (e.g., Goldenberg, McCoy, Pyszczynski, Greenberg, & people with an extrinsic value orientation (EVO) typi- Solomon, 2000; Kasser & Sheldon, 2000; Rosenblatt, cally desire money, fame, and beauty (Kasser & Ryan, Greenberg, Solomon, Pyszczynski, & Lyon, 1989). When 1993, 1996). This values model asserts that the balance exposed to mortality salience manipulations, individuals between EVO and IVO is critical when predicting the have punished those who do not agree with their world- harmful social and physical effects previously men- views (Greenberg et al., 1990) and have increased their tioned. Striving for extrinsic goals becomes problematic likelihood of stereotyping (Schimel et al., 1999). for people, the theory states, when their extrinsic values Some recent evidence points to the potential pro- outweigh their intrinsic values. Sheldon and McGregor social effects of mortality salience in what researchers (2000) validated the assumptions underlying intrinsic called the “Scrooge effect” (Jonas, Schimel, Greenberg, versus extrinsic values by showing that EVO participants & Pyszczynski, 2002). In that study, participants who revealed greater levels of consumption (i.e., greed) than experienced mortality salience gave more money to did IVO participants in a forest-management game. charity than did other participants; however, this gener- osity only occurred when participants considered the TERROR MANAGEMENT THEORY charities as part of their worldview. It can be inferred that Of all things that move man, one of the principal ones is mortality salience leads to prosocial behavior only if the his terror of death. (Becker, 1973, p. 11) needy person or organization is a member (or sup- porter) of the helper’s worldview. From this perspective, Based on the work of Becker (1973), terror manage- the “Scrooge effect” does not differ from terror manage- ment theory (Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986; ment results that demonstrate that mortality salience Solomon, Greenberg, & Pyszczynski, 1991) argues that generates worldview defense. our innate and all-encompassing fear of death is buf- The potential link between death awareness and fered through a dual-component process that consists of extrinsic values has recently received attention from self-esteem striving and the creation of cultural world- researchers trying to expand the list of factors, beyond views. It is through faith and investment in these value orientation, that play a role in greedy behavior. worldviews that people find meaning in life and become Using mortality salience, Kasser and Sheldon (2000) productive members of society. Becker and terror man- showed that compared to control participants, those agement theory further posit that the nearly insoluble asked to face their death expected to be worth more human reality of mortality awareness combined with an money in the future and to spend more money for plea- instinctive desire for survival compels attempts at sure. Participants facing their death also showed a immortality through culturally standardized systems greater propensity for avarice, although there was no evi- (e.g., capitalism) and symbols (e.g., money). In the face dence that mortality salience interacted with value orien- of mortality, humans seek everlasting life by creating and tation. A recent study by Dechesne et al. (2003) repli- embracing that which cannot die. Such immortality is cated Kasser and Sheldon’s (2000) findings (Study 2), gained through cultural ideologies and their extrinsic but only in men facing their death in a condition with rewards because these ideologies “seek the perpetuation
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Less Human Than Other Nurses: an Examination Of
    LESS HUMAN THAN OTHER NURSES: AN EXAMINATION OF ATTRIBUTIONS OF HUMANNESS TOWARD AN OLDER ADULT IN LONG- TERM CARE by JOANNA DIEKER B.A., Pittsburg State University, 2014 A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Psychology 2017 ii This thesis for the Master of Arts degree by JoAnna Dieker has been approved for the Department of Psychology by Elizabeth Daniels, Chair Thomas Pyszczynski Judith Martin-Scott Date 12/6/2017 iii Dieker, JoAnna (M.A., Psychology) Less Human Than Other Nurses: An Examination of Attributions of Humanness Toward an Older Adult in Long-Term Care Thesis directed by Assistant Professor Elizabeth Daniels ABSTRACT The relationship between care recipient and care provider is central to the care recipient’s quality of life, yet relatively little is known about psychological factors that impact this relationship. Existing evidence suggests that infrahumanization of patients may reduce stress related to caring for those who are dying. Extending Terror Management Theory and infrahumanization research, the present research examined the effect of mortality salience and aging salience on perceptions of unique humanness attributed to an older adult relative to other nurses. Nursing majors at a university (n = 96) and adults with a background in nursing (n = 95) were asked to write about their own death, someone they know who has experienced decline and challenges during old age, or dental pain (control). They then rated themselves, other nurses, and an older adult on uniquely human traits, uniquely human emotions, and compassion.
    [Show full text]
  • Suicide Attitudes and Terror Management Theory
    University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Social Work College of Social Work 2019 SUICIDE ATTITUDES AND TERROR MANAGEMENT THEORY Athena Kheibari University of Kentucky, [email protected] Author ORCID Identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1084-0738 Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2019.297 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Kheibari, Athena, "SUICIDE ATTITUDES AND TERROR MANAGEMENT THEORY" (2019). Theses and Dissertations--Social Work. 26. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/csw_etds/26 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Social Work at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Social Work by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known.
    [Show full text]
  • Mortality Salience Effects Fail to Replicate in Traditional and Novel Measures
    Revised version of manuscript under review at Meta-Psychology. See full editorial process here: http://tinyurl.com/mp-submissions Participate in open peer review by commenting on this preprint in https://hypothes.is Mortality salience effects fail to replicate in traditional and novel measures Bjørn Sætrevik 1 & Hallgeir Sjåstad 2, 3 1: Operational psychology research group, Department for psychosocial science, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen 2: SNF - Centre for Applied Research at NHH 3: Department of Strategy and Management, Norwegian School of Economics Abstract Mortality salience (MS) effects, where death reminders lead to ingroup-bias and defensive protection of one’s worldview, have been claimed to be a fundamental human motivator. MS phenomena have ostensibly been identified in several hundred studies within the “terror management theory” framework, but transparent and high-powered replications are lacking. We performed an Experiment 1 (N = 101 Norwegian lab participants) to replicate the traditional MS effect on national patriotism, with additional novel measures of democratic values and pro-sociality. Experiment 2 (N = 784 US online participants) aimed to replicate the MS effect on national patriotism in a larger sample, with ingroup identification and pro-sociality as additional outcome measures. The results showed that neither experiment replicated the traditional MS effect on national patriotism. The experiments also failed to support conceptual replications and underlying mechanisms on different democratic values,
    [Show full text]
  • Mortality Salience Increases Death-Anxiety for Individuals Low in Personal Need for Structure
    Motiv Emot (2013) 37:303–307 DOI 10.1007/s11031-012-9313-6 ORIGINAL PAPER Mortality salience increases death-anxiety for individuals low in personal need for structure Clay Routledge • Jacob Juhl • Matthew Vess Published online: 6 July 2012 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 Abstract Research derived from terror management terror management theory (TMT; Greenberg et al. 1997), theory suggests that death cognition does not lead to death- death-related cognition does not typically lead to death- anxiety because people respond to thoughts of death by related anxiety because people are able to protect turning to social and cultural structures that provide a sense themselves from this potential distress by investing in of psychological security. However, recent research indi- established social and cultural structures that provide them cates that it is people high, but not low, in personal need for a meaningful and enduring sense of self. Consistent with structure that turn to social and cultural structures in this, a large body of research has demonstrated that prim- response to heightened death cognition. Such findings ing death (mortality salience; MS) increases investment in suggest that people low in PNS may be vulnerable to and defense of established meaning and self-transcendence experiencing death-anxiety when death thoughts are acti- providing social and cultural structures (e.g., one’s nation vated. The current study explored this possibility. Indi- or religion, see Solomon et al. 2000). These findings sug- vidual differences in personal need for structure were gest that when death thoughts are activated, most people measured and death cognition (mortality salience) was are able to diffuse the threat of mortality before it can lead manipulated.
    [Show full text]
  • Death and Presentation: How Mortality Salience and Framing Affects Attitudes Toward Welfare Recipients
    Death and Presentation: How Mortality Salience and Framing Affects Attitudes Toward Welfare Recipients SARAH C. GUTHRIE Communicated by: Dr. Catherine Borshuk Department of Psychology ABSTRACT One hundred-five introductory psychology students were included in this study to determine whether death awareness and presentation of information would affect attitudes toward out-groups. The mortality salience hypothesis states that people will be more likely to hold negative attitudes toward out-groups when their existing beliefs are not supported and when mortality becomes salient. The results supported this hypothesis, suggesting that out-groups can alter people's attitudes accord­ ing to existing beliefs. Compared to personal causes for people on welfare assistance, social causes did not show significantly different effects, nor were there any interaction effects between mortality salience and framing. The Interpersonal Judgment Scale was used to measure attitudes toward dis­ similar others on two items: emotional liking and readiness to cooperate in a study with an out-group member. People recognize that stigmatized groups exist. Ex­ et al., 1990) have found that when people were aware of amples of such out-groups are persons with physical their death, they perceived people who belonged to the disabilities, mental illness, and welfare recipients. Stig­ same religious group positively, while viewing religious matized groups are viewed negatively, but the under­ out-groups negatively. lying causes are not discernible. Two areas have been Further, when they were aware of their death, peo­ examined that may aid in understanding why this phe­ ple mandated that out-groupers receive harsher sen­ nomenon occurs. The mortality salience hypothesis tences for being "moral transgressors" (Rosenblatt et states that people will be more likely to hold negative al., 1989, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Death Anxiety Amongst Medical Facility Staff Working with Medically Fragile Individuals
    Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine DigitalCommons@PCOM PCOM Psychology Dissertations Student Dissertations, Theses and Papers 2012 Death Anxiety amongst Medical Facility Staff Working with Medically Fragile Individuals Jacqueline Anne Chambers-Klein Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.pcom.edu/psychology_dissertations Part of the Health Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Chambers-Klein, Jacqueline Anne, "Death Anxiety amongst Medical Facility Staff orkW ing with Medically Fragile Individuals" (2012). PCOM Psychology Dissertations. Paper 213. This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Dissertations, Theses and Papers at DigitalCommons@PCOM. It has been accepted for inclusion in PCOM Psychology Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@PCOM. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Department of Psychology DEATH ANXIETY AMONGST MEDICAL FACILITY STAFF WORKING WITH MEDICALLY FRAGILE INDIVIDUALS By Jacqueline Anne Chambers-Klein Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Psychology May 2012 Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Department of Psychology Dissertation Approval This is to certify that the thesis presented to us by Jacqueline Anne Chambers-Klein on the 7th day of May, 2012, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Psychology, has been examined and is acceptable in both scholarship and literary quality. Committee Members’ Signatures: Terri Erbacher, Ph.D., Chairperson Rosemary Mennuti, Ed.D., 2nd Chairperson John Pierce, Ph.D., 3rd Chairperson Robert A. DiTomasso, Ph.D., ABPP, Chair, Department of Psychology ii Acknowledgements My doctorate would not be possible if I did not consistently have the love and support of my husband, Tom.
    [Show full text]
  • Terror Management Theory and Belief in an Afterlife
    Colby College Digital Commons @ Colby Undergraduate Research Symposium (UGRS) Student Research 2006 Terror Management Theory and Belief in an Afterlife Gillian C. Butsch Colby College Melissa A. Crawford Colby College Lauren A. Erickson Colby College Cassie M. Green Colby College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/ugrs Recommended Citation Butsch, Gillian C.; Crawford, Melissa A.; Erickson, Lauren A.; and Green, Cassie M., "Terror Management Theory and Belief in an Afterlife" (2006). Undergraduate Research Symposium (UGRS). 6. https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/ugrs/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at Digital Commons @ Colby. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Research Symposium (UGRS) by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Colby. Terror Management Theory and Belief in an Afterlife Gillian C. Butsch, Melissa A. Crawford, Lauren A. Erickson, Cassie M. Green Colby College, Waterville, ME Discussion Introduction 3-way interaction between MS x PC x Belief in Afterlife The marginal 3-way interaction yields some interesting Terror management theory (TMT) posits that all humans are born based on the Article Index results. When mortality was not made salient the anti-afterlife with a self-preservation instinct, or an innate desire to survive. This essay seemed more valid, even though it did not coincide primal drive conflicts with the reality that humans are mortal, 9 with the participants’ beliefs. However, when confronted with creating the potential for extreme fear and anxiety (Schmeichel MS No MS thoughts of one’s own death the expected reaction occurred: and Martens, 2005).
    [Show full text]
  • Power and Death: Mortality Salience Increases Power Seeking While Feeling Powerful Reduces Death Anxiety
    Journal of Applied Psychology © 2016 American Psychological Association 2016, Vol. 101, No. 5, 702–720 0021-9010/16/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/apl0000076 Power and Death: Mortality Salience Increases Power Seeking While Feeling Powerful Reduces Death Anxiety Peter Belmi Jeffrey Pfeffer University of Virginia Stanford University According to Terror Management Theory, people respond to reminders of mortality by seeking psycho- logical security and bolstering their self-esteem. Because previous research suggests that having power can provide individuals a sense of security and self-worth, we hypothesize that mortality salience leads to an increased motivation to acquire power, especially among men. Study 1 found that men (but not women) who wrote about their death reported more interest in acquiring power. Study 2A and Study 2B demonstrated that when primed with reminders of death, men (but not women) reported behaving more dominantly during the subsequent week, while both men and women reported behaving more prosocially during that week. Thus, mortality salience prompts people to respond in ways that help them manage their death anxiety but in ways consistent with normative gender expectations. Furthermore, Studies 3–5 showed that feeling powerful reduces anxiety when mortality is salient. Specifically, we found that when primed to feel more powerful, both men and women experienced less mortality anxiety. Keywords: power, death anxiety, motivation, dominance, gender Supplemental materials: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/apl0000076.supp You still can’t take it with you. But some executives have arranged for Ames, 2006), and motivation (e.g., McClelland, 1975). Of these the next best thing: huge corporate payouts to their heirs if they die in three dimensions, skill and personality have been researched quite office (Maremont, 2008).
    [Show full text]
  • The Effects of Mortality Salience on Disgust Sensitivity Among University Students, Older Adults, and Mortuary Students
    The Open Psychology Journal, 2010, 3, 1-8 1 Open Access The Effects of Mortality Salience on Disgust Sensitivity Among University Students, Older Adults, and Mortuary Students Jonathan F. Bassett1,* and Michael E. Sonntag2 1Department of Psychology, Lander University, USA 2University of Maine at Presque Isle, USA Abstract: The present study tested the Terror Management perspective on disgust by examining the effects of mortality salience on disgust sensitivity among 137 university students, 48 older adults, and 44 mortuary students preparing for a career in the funeral service industry. Participants were randomly assigned to a mortality salience, uncertainty salience, or television salience induction. Following a delay, participants completed the core disgust and contamination disgust sub- scales of the Disgust Scale Revised. University students reported more core disgust than did older adults and mortuary students. Women reported more core and contamination disgust than did men. Mortality salience led to increased disgust sensitivity among all three groups but only on a small number of items related to animals. The results suggest a limited role of terror management defenses in the experience of disgust in response to stimuli that remind people of their animal nature. Keywords: Terror Management Theory, Disgust Sensitivity, Mortality Salience. THE EFFECTS OF MORTALITY SALIENCE ON Disgust DISGUST SENSITIVITY AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, OLDER ADULTS, AND MORTUARY Rozin, Haidt, and McCauley [7] posited that, although disgust likely evolved as a way to protect human omnivores STUDENTS from bodily contamination through the oral incorporation of The present paper examined the effects of experimentally potentially harmful foods, the disgust mechanisms was co- inducing thoughts of death on disgust sensitivity among uni- opted through cultural evolution to protect people from con- versity students, older adults, and mortuary students.
    [Show full text]
  • How Death Imitates Life: Cultural Influences on Conceptions of Death and Dying James Gire Virginia Military Institute, [email protected]
    Unit 6 Developmental Psychology and Culture Article 3 Subunit 2 Culture and Human Development: Adulthood and Old Age 12-1-2014 How Death Imitates Life: Cultural Influences on Conceptions of Death and Dying James Gire Virginia Military Institute, [email protected] Recommended Citation Gire, J. (2014). How Death Imitates Life: Cultural Influences on Conceptions of Death and Dying. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1120 This Online Readings in Psychology and Culture Article is brought to you for free and open access (provided uses are educational in nature)by IACCP and ScholarWorks@GVSU. Copyright © 2014 International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology. All Rights Reserved. ISBN 978-0-9845627-0-1 How Death Imitates Life: Cultural Influences on Conceptions of Death and Dying Abstract Regardless of how or where we are born, what unites people of all cultures is the fact everyone eventually dies. However, cultures vary in how they conceptualize death and what happens when a person dies. In some cultures, death is conceived to involve different conditions, including sleep, illness, and reaching a certain age. In other cultures, death is said to occur only when there is a total cessation of life. Similarly, certain cultural traditions view death as a transition to other forms of existence; others propose a continuous interaction between the dead and the living; some cultures conceive a circular pattern of multiple deaths and rebirths; and yet others view death as the final end, with nothing occurring after death. These different conceptions have a noticeable influence on their lifestyles, their readiness to die for a cause, the degree to which they fear death, their expressions of grief and mourning, and the nature of funeral rituals.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Meaning of Life and the Inevitability of Death
    On the Meaning of Life and the Inevitability of Death Exploring the effects of mortality salience and MASTER THESIS eudaimonic videos on media experience Master Thesis MA Communicatie- en Informatiewetenschappen Communicatie & Beïnvloeding E.J.T. (Lisette) te Hennepe May 2018 Abstract In recent years, scholars have argued that there must be more to entertainment than just amusement and thrill. Therefore, a new approach to entertainment has looked beyond entertainment gratification such as sensation-seeking and fun, and has included affective states as poignant, emotionally moving, and inspiring as description of media experience. In the current study, eudaimonic entertainment is linked to the meaning of life and inevitability of death. Participants are either primed with the death of oneself (mortality salience self, MSS), the death of a loved one (mortality salience loved one, MSLO) or placed in a control group. Consequently, they are asked to watch an eudaimonic video where the protagonist loses a loved one. In the video, the protagonist either showed emotions indicating acceptance towards the death of the loved one (Accepting Emotion Video, AEV) or strong and sorrowful emotions about the death of the loved one (Sorrowful Emotion Video, SEV). The main question is whether type of mortality salience (MSS/MSLO/control) and type of video (AEV/SEV) lead to different media experiences in terms of positive and negative affect, mixed affect, poignancy, perceived corniness, identification, transportation, TEBOTS and para- social relationships. The results showed little evidence for both type of mortality salience and type of video on media experience. Nonetheless, several ambiguous findings also provided the knowledge that something unanswered and unexplained is going on in the field of eudaimonic stories and mortality salience.
    [Show full text]
  • Spirituality, Religious Coping, and Depressive Symptoms in Hospice Patients: a Terror Management Perspective Janine Siegel Walden University
    Walden University ScholarWorks Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection 2015 Spirituality, Religious Coping, and Depressive Symptoms in Hospice Patients: A Terror Management Perspective Janine Siegel Walden University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations Part of the Medicine and Health Sciences Commons, and the Social Psychology Commons This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection at ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Walden University College of Social and Behavioral Sciences This is to certify that the doctoral dissertation by Janine Siegel has been found to be complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the review committee have been made. Review Committee Dr. Ellen Levine, Committee Chairperson, Psychology Faculty Dr. John Astin, Committee Member, Psychology Faculty Dr. Elisha Galaif, University Reviewer, Psychology Faculty Chief Academic Officer Eric Riedel, Ph.D. Walden University 2015 Abstract Spirituality, Religious Coping, and Depressive Symptoms in Hospice Patients: A Terror Management Perspective by Janine D. Siegel MA, Graduate Theological Union, 1999 BA, Northern Illinois University, 1985 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Psychology Walden University May 2015 Abstract Facing imminent death can be an unremitting problem for hospice patients who lack psychological support for existential concerns that contribute to depressive symptoms and suffering. According to terror management theory, spiritual and religious beliefs are a common means of coping with mortality at the end of life, and few studies have considered how hospice patients feel about their impending death.
    [Show full text]