Death, quest, and self-esteem: re-examining the role of self-esteem and religion following mortality salience

Abstract. This research investigates mortality salience (MS) and national pride in Germany, a country in which, for historical reasons, attitudes toward the nation are negatively valued. Within this cultural context, utilizing national pride as a coping strategy for dealing with MS may require well-developed self-regulatory abilities: It was hypothesized that the typical increment in national pride after induced MS would be confined to action-oriented individuals, who are able to self-regulate after exposure to threatening information. Two studies with German participants showed that they negatively evaluated national pride. Consistent with expectations, action-oriented participants in the MS condition revalued this symbol and also gave higher attractiveness ratings to attributes related to their own culture. Results remained unchanged after controlling for participants' self-esteem. The combined role of self-regulation and culture in terror management is discussed.

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Treasure or Bargain? The Influence of Mortality Salience on Possession Valuation

10.31234/osf.io/hp7u5 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yuqi Liu

Keyword(s):

Terror Management Theory ◽

Mortality Salience ◽

Self Esteem ◽

Selling Price ◽

Self Evaluation ◽

Valuation Process ◽

Moderation Model ◽

Ownership Effect ◽

The Relationship

The present study discusses the role of self-esteem in moderating the relationship between mortality salience and valuation of possessions. Terror Management Theory (TMT) proposes that self-esteem serves as an anxiety buffer when thoughts of death are salient and that compared to people with low self-esteem, individuals with high self-esteem are less defensive in response to mortality salience. On the other hand, studies about the mere-ownership effect suggest that people with high self-esteem extend their positive self-evaluation to the evaluation of possessions just because they own them. Thus, self-esteem affects both reactions to mortality salience and the valuation process. However, no studies have explored the effect of mortality salience on possession valuation. The present study suggests that when reminded of death, people with low self-esteem raise the minimum selling price of owned objects, while people with high self-esteem lower the price. A moderation model shows that self-esteem moderates the relationship between mortality salience and valuation of possession.

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Social and Temporal Comparisons as Moderators of Psychological Resources Associations With Wellbeing

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001/a000193 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 96-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hasida Ben-Zur

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Subjective Wellbeing ◽

Social Comparisons ◽

Self Esteem ◽

Psychological Resources ◽

Low Levels ◽

Age Range ◽

General Wellbeing

Abstract. The current study investigated the associations of psychological resources, social comparisons, and temporal comparisons with general wellbeing. The sample included 142 community participants (47.9% men; age range 23–83 years), who compared themselves with others, and with their younger selves, on eight dimensions (e.g., physical health, resilience). They also completed questionnaires assessing psychological resources of mastery and self-esteem, and three components of subjective wellbeing: life satisfaction and negative and positive affect. The main results showed that high levels of psychological resources contributed to wellbeing, with self-enhancing social and temporal comparisons moderating the effects of resources on certain wellbeing components. Specifically, under low levels of mastery or self-esteem self-enhancing social or temporal comparisons were related to either higher life satisfaction or positive affect. The results highlight the role of resources and comparisons in promoting people’s wellbeing, and suggest that self-enhancing comparisons function as cognitive coping mechanisms when psychological resources are low.

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