Managing the terror of publication bias: A comprehensive p-curve analysis of the Terror Management Theory literature

A key prediction of Terror Management Theory is that people affirm their cultural worldview after they are reminded of death. This mortality salience (MS) hypothesis has been widely explored, yet the presence of questionable research practices may impact the replicability of this literature. We assess the evidential value of the MS hypothesis by conducting a pre-registered p-curve analysis of 860 published studies. Our results suggest that there are nonzero effects in this literature and that power is larger for studies conducted with multiple delays between the independent and dependent variables, for studies that test for main effects in comparison to those that test for interactions, and for studies conducted more recently. However, since the estimated average power of MS studies is 26%, direct replications are unlikely to succeed. We recommend researchers consider our evidence when planning their samples, and that they anticipate smaller effects by increasing their sample sizes.

The Impact of Mortality Salience on Purchase Intention and Creativity Evaluation on Products During COVID-19 Pandemic

In the environment of COVID-19, people are faced with mortality salience (MS) and socioeconomic crisis. According to the terror management theory, the MS would lead to particular consumption attitudes and behaviors caused by the self-esteem and cultural worldview defense. The creativity as a potential value of products needs to be examined to explore how the MS changed the creativity evaluation of three types of products categorized into normal, renovative, and innovative products, based on the degree of originality (Zhang et al., 2019). Two experiments were conducted to examine (1) the MS effect on the creativity and purchase intention evaluation and (2) both MS and country-of-origin effect on the evaluations. The results show that usefulness and purchase intention are affected by both effects, and the novelty is mainly affected by MS.

"Direct threats require decisive action": An investigation on how levels of political conservatism change in the face of economic, natural and social threats

<p>The extant literature has suggested that threatening time periods and situations can enhance people’s political conservatism levels. This thesis provides a systematic examination of the impact of societal threat on political conservatism, and whether distinct types of threat (economic, natural, and social) differentially impact political conservatism. In particular, the present research examines two main competing hypotheses. The conservative shift hypothesis (Jost, Glaser, Kruglanski, & Sulloway, 2003b) postulates that people become more politically conservative during/after threatening periods. The cultural worldview enhancement hypothesis (Pyszczynski, Solomon, & Greenberg, 2003) postulates that people tend to cling more strongly to what they believe when their death is made salient, be it a more conservative or liberal political belief – we assume that societal threat could also make mortality salient, enhancing a held political worldview. Additionally, the present research also examines in more depth how societal threat impacts political conservatism. The dual-process mediation hypothesis suggests that the impact of societal threat on political conservatism happens via variables in the dual-process motivational (DPM; Duckitt, 2001) model, being differentially mediated by world beliefs (dangerous and competitive) and socio-political attitudes (right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation). Finally and because the direct impact of threat on authoritarianism has been questioned (Feldman & Stenner, 1997), the activation of authoritarianism by social threat hypothesis suggests an interaction between social threat and previous levels of right-wing authoritarianism in predicting political conservatism and variables in the DPM model. Seven empirical studies were carried out to test these hypotheses using different methodological designs. The correlational findings of Study 1 showed that the DPM model was useful in predicting political conservatism. The mix-method findings of Study 2A showed that economic, natural, and social threats have distinct psychological meanings. Based on these initial findings, two mix-method studies were conducted to develop textual (Study 2B) and pictorial (Study 2C) experimental stimuli depicting economic, natural and social threat scenarios plus a control scenario. Three experiments were then conducted to test the complete set of hypotheses: Study 3A was completed online with textual stimuli, Study 3B was completed in a lab with textual stimuli, and Study 3C was completed in a lab with pictorial stimuli. Overall, the experimental findings provided more support for the conservative shift hypothesis with participants showing greater conservative political orientation after the threat manipulation (compared to the control condition) in Study 3C. However, this effect did not generalise to other measures of political conservatism (right-wing political orientation, conservative voting intention and preference for political discourses of conservative parties). Additionally, some distinctions between threat types were observed. The dual-process mediation hypothesis was partially supported in Studies 3A and 3C. The threat manipulation impacted political conservatism indirectly via an increase in competitive world beliefs and an increase in RWA in Study 3A, while it impacted political conservatism via an increase in dangerous world beliefs and increases in right-wing authoritarianism and/or social dominance orientation in Study 3C. No empirical support was observed for both the cultural worldview enhancement and the activation of authoritarianism by social threat hypotheses. Overall, the present research suggests that it is possible to experimentally modify people’s political conservatism using threat manipulation, that threat enhances (at least to some extent) political conservatism, and that this impact may be differentially mediated by variables in the DPM model. These conclusions are discussed in more depth along with limitations and future directions in the general discussion of the thesis.</p>

"Direct threats require decisive action": An investigation on how levels of political conservatism change in the face of economic, natural and social threats

<p>The extant literature has suggested that threatening time periods and situations can enhance people’s political conservatism levels. This thesis provides a systematic examination of the impact of societal threat on political conservatism, and whether distinct types of threat (economic, natural, and social) differentially impact political conservatism. In particular, the present research examines two main competing hypotheses. The conservative shift hypothesis (Jost, Glaser, Kruglanski, & Sulloway, 2003b) postulates that people become more politically conservative during/after threatening periods. The cultural worldview enhancement hypothesis (Pyszczynski, Solomon, & Greenberg, 2003) postulates that people tend to cling more strongly to what they believe when their death is made salient, be it a more conservative or liberal political belief – we assume that societal threat could also make mortality salient, enhancing a held political worldview. Additionally, the present research also examines in more depth how societal threat impacts political conservatism. The dual-process mediation hypothesis suggests that the impact of societal threat on political conservatism happens via variables in the dual-process motivational (DPM; Duckitt, 2001) model, being differentially mediated by world beliefs (dangerous and competitive) and socio-political attitudes (right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation). Finally and because the direct impact of threat on authoritarianism has been questioned (Feldman & Stenner, 1997), the activation of authoritarianism by social threat hypothesis suggests an interaction between social threat and previous levels of right-wing authoritarianism in predicting political conservatism and variables in the DPM model. Seven empirical studies were carried out to test these hypotheses using different methodological designs. The correlational findings of Study 1 showed that the DPM model was useful in predicting political conservatism. The mix-method findings of Study 2A showed that economic, natural, and social threats have distinct psychological meanings. Based on these initial findings, two mix-method studies were conducted to develop textual (Study 2B) and pictorial (Study 2C) experimental stimuli depicting economic, natural and social threat scenarios plus a control scenario. Three experiments were then conducted to test the complete set of hypotheses: Study 3A was completed online with textual stimuli, Study 3B was completed in a lab with textual stimuli, and Study 3C was completed in a lab with pictorial stimuli. Overall, the experimental findings provided more support for the conservative shift hypothesis with participants showing greater conservative political orientation after the threat manipulation (compared to the control condition) in Study 3C. However, this effect did not generalise to other measures of political conservatism (right-wing political orientation, conservative voting intention and preference for political discourses of conservative parties). Additionally, some distinctions between threat types were observed. The dual-process mediation hypothesis was partially supported in Studies 3A and 3C. The threat manipulation impacted political conservatism indirectly via an increase in competitive world beliefs and an increase in RWA in Study 3A, while it impacted political conservatism via an increase in dangerous world beliefs and increases in right-wing authoritarianism and/or social dominance orientation in Study 3C. No empirical support was observed for both the cultural worldview enhancement and the activation of authoritarianism by social threat hypotheses. Overall, the present research suggests that it is possible to experimentally modify people’s political conservatism using threat manipulation, that threat enhances (at least to some extent) political conservatism, and that this impact may be differentially mediated by variables in the DPM model. These conclusions are discussed in more depth along with limitations and future directions in the general discussion of the thesis.</p>

Values of the Steppe Culture

This article considers that, according to the traditional Turkic worldview, the ratio of thought and language is the basis of the national and cultural worldview, which forms cultural systems and regulates the laws of mutual harmony. Today it is necessary to seriously study the formation of a culture that underlies national knowledge. The importance of combining the traditional Turkic worldview with Islam, the totality of linguistic and intellectual values in the pre-Islamic historical and cultural layers are emphasized. Analysis of the nomadic Turkic society, which adopted a new worldview and rose to a new level of morality, experiencing a two-way process, is given.

Christian Faith and Akan Culture in Ghana: A Review of Major Works of Sidney George Williamson

Christian growth must not only be considered in terms of the growth of numbers. The growth in the church must also be considered in the level of depth and the quality of Christian conversion within a cultural milieu. The depth of the faith has a lot to do with how the Gospel speaks directly to the minds and hearts of its hearers. Moreover, the Gospel can speak to the hearts and minds of its hearers when the indigenous world views that condition the inner lives of the people are given serious consideration. The study is a review of the major works of Sidney George Williamson on the Christian faith and Akan culture in Ghana. As an early student of the tension between the Christian faith and Akan culture and the challenges of Christian identity, Williamson draws attention to the fact that Christianity can adequately meet Akan Christian needs when it pays attention to the cultural worldview of the people it seeks to serve. The study as a qualitative one uses both primary and secondary sources. Interviews and observations were conducted in some Akan communities on the integration of Christian faith and Akan cultural worldview. The study points to the fact that the construction of theology among Akan Christians must be done from the inside to the outside and not from outside to the inside, the approach that Western missionaries adopted. The spiritual needs of Akan Christians will be adequately met when they hear the Gospel in their own cultural understandings rather than theology done in the West offered to the Akan in European worldview. The study further calls attention to the preparedness of the churches in the Akan cultural environment for paradigm shifts in the Christian faith and Akan Cultural engagements in post-missionary African Christianity. Keywords: Akan Culture, Christian Faith, Local Theologies, Sidney George Williamson

Specificity of representation of the dichotomy “young age – senior age” in the Russian and Chinese worldviews

The goal of this research is to determine the specificity of representation of the dichotomy &ldquo;young age &ndash; senior age&rdquo; in the cultural-linguistic space of Russia and China. The article explores the peculiarities of the representation of the dichotomy &ldquo;young age &ndash; senior age&rdquo; in the Russian and Chinese folk tales as the texts that reflect mentality and folk traditions. In the context of dynamic globalization processes, increase of migration processes, and development of the new transcultural linguistic personality, which encompasses ethno-linguocultural distinctness of both countries, the author determines the specificity of representation of the dichotomy &ldquo;young age &ndash; senior age&rdquo; in the Russian and Chinese languages within the framework of lexical-semantic space of phraseology. Special attention is given to synergy of the linguistic and cultural worldview. This is the first comparative analysis conducted on the topic that allows revealing the specificity of representation of the dichotomy &ldquo;young age &ndash; senior age&rdquo; in the Russian and Chinese worldviews, which defines the novelty of this work. It is proven that the reflection of the dichotomy &ldquo;young age &ndash; senior age&rdquo; in the worldview of both nations (Russian and Chinese) was largely affected by folk and historical tradition. In the Chinese worldview, a senior person is much regarded, while in the Russian language it is more commonly to come across such representations as worsening of mental and physical abilities, as well as uselessness of senior people.

Frame approach towards studying cultural phenomena

&nbsp; The object of this research is the religious sphere, apprehended as a fragment of the cultural worldview. The unit, which allows conducting the analysis and studying the structure of cultural worldview alongside other, is the frame of cultural phenomenon. Cultural invariants are referred to as basic frames. The subject of this research is one of the major cultural phenomena, the basic frame of the Christian culture &ndash; &ldquo;sin&rdquo;. The author focuses on the structure of cultural phenomenon, analyzing its levels, vertex nodes (slots) and optional nodes (terminal slots). The key research method is the frame analysis. The commonly used in sociological, linguistic, and cognitive research frame analysis is a universal tool, effective and adequate to the goals and tasks of culturology. The novelty of this study is define by the lack of works on the frame analysis of cultural phenomena in the context of its relevance for the scientific community. This article is a contribution to the discussion that has unfolded in recent years on the capabilities of frame analysis in culturology. The conducted analysis demonstrates that the frame correlated with the concept of sin has a multi-level structure. The main attributes of the frame are the slots or vertex nodes &ndash; quality inherent to human, grounds for punishment, enemy, evil, evil spirit, illness, mistake, and misfortune. The terminal (optional) slots include the atoning sacrifice and forgiveness. &nbsp;