The effects of trait self-esteem and death cognitions on worldview defense and search for meaning

Relationship between self-esteem and quality of life in middle-aged and older patients with chronic diseases: mediating effects of death anxiety

BACKGROUND

Many studies have explored the relationship between self-esteem and quality of life. However, few studies have elucidated the mechanisms underlying the relationship between self-esteem and quality of life in middle-aged and older patients with chronic diseases. The present study aimed to explore the mediating role of death anxiety in this relationship.

METHODS

Middle-old-aged patients with chronic diseases were selected as the respondents by using a multi-stage sampling method, random number table method from October 2021 to February 2022 in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine. The Cumulative Disease Rating Scale, the Self-Esteem Scale (SES), the Chinese version of the Death Anxiety Scale (CT-DAS), and the Simplified version of the Quality of Life Scale (SF-12) were used as the researching tools to conduct the survey. SPSS26.0 was used to analysis data. AMOS 23.0 software was used to construct structural equation modeling.

RESULTS

294 valid questionnaires were collected. There were significant differences in quality of life among middle-aged and elderly patients with chronic diseases who have different physical activities, socialization, and chronic pain (P < 0.01); Self-esteem was positively associated with quality of life (r = 0.330, P < 0.01), self-esteem was negatively associated with death anxiety (r = -0.222, P < 0.01), and death anxiety was negatively associated with quality of life (r = -0.263, P < 0.01); Death anxiety partially mediated the relationship between self-esteem and quality of life, with the mediating effect accounting for 18.40% of the total effect.

CONCLUSION

Death anxiety partially mediates the relationship between self-esteem and quality of life. Interventions to improve self-esteem and reduce death anxiety should be used to improve the quality of life of middle-aged and senior patients with chronic diseases.

Mortality Salience Effects of Critical Incidents - A Systematic Literature Review and Research Agenda

Critical incidents (CI) trigger acute stress reactions and psychological trauma because of direct or vicarious exposure. These events include natural disasters, wars, terrorist attacks and pandemics, and usually result in deaths and serious physical injuries. Their life-threatening nature makes them reasonable candidates to induce mortality salience (MS). The current review aims to consolidate Terror Management Theory (TMT) research using CIs as MS. A systematic literature review was conducted. Overall, 74 articles with 113 studies were included. Through this review, strong support for MS effects of CI has been found. Consistent with TMT, CIs tend to trigger worldview defence, self-esteem enhancement and relationship seeking. CIs have also been found to impact negatively on individual well-being and organisational health. Recommendations specific to crisis interventions and well-being will be discussed. The review concludes with potential future research directions to strengthen and expand empirical knowledge in CI salience.

The Indirect Effect of Death Anxiety on Experienced Meaning in Life via Search for Meaning and Prosocial Behavior

This study investigated the relationship between death anxiety and experienced meaning in life. Six hundred and forty-eight Chinese college students were surveyed using the Death Anxiety Scale, the Prosocial Behavior Scale, and the Meaning in Life Scale. The results showed that death anxiety predicted experienced meaning through three pathways: the first one was through search for meaning singly; the second one was through prosocial behavior singly; and the third one was through search for meaning and prosocial behavior serially, which accounted for the highest proportion of the total effect. This study highlights the positive side of death anxiety.

Effects of mortality awareness on attitudes toward dying and death and meaning in life-a randomized controlled trial

A randomized controlled trial was carried out to investigate effects of heightened mortality awareness on meaning in life and attitudes toward dying and death. An intervention group (n = 51) completed questionnaires and participated in interventions to increase mortality awareness; a control group (n = 47) only completed the questionnaires. Longitudinal analyses revealed a decrease in the intervention group's fear of dying and an increase in their acceptance of dying, but no effects on attitudes toward death. Changes in meaningfulness were contingent on participants' religiousness. Unexpected cross-sectional results and the study's implications for theory and further empirical work are discussed.

Death thoughts predict increased depression for those with low self-worth

Terror management theory specifies that a sense of self-worth is necessary to prevent the awareness of death from undermining psychological well-being. We tested the theory's claims about well-being within the context of depression, by measuring self-worth, death-thought accessibility, and depression in an online study (N = 365). Consistent with the theory, death-thought accessibility predicted increased depression, but only among those with low, not high, self-worth. Our findings support existential clinical theorists' claims for psychological therapies to appreciate the underlying reasons for the need for self-worth.

To the Victors Go the Existential Spoils: The Mental-Health Benefits of Cultural Worldview Defense for People WHO Successfully Meet Cultural Standards and Valued Goals

Introduction: Research in support of terror management theory suggests that mortality concerns will activate symbolic defenses associated with cultural worldviews, and when these defenses are activated, mental health will benefit. However, no study to date has examined this process in full. We filled this gap, while testing the moderating effect of feeling successful vis-à-vis cultural value-standards.

Method: In two studies, we hypothesized that participants who feel successful at meeting cultural standards would engage cultural worldview defense (WVD) following mortality salience (MS), and as a consequence of their defensiveness, would experience greater mental health.

Results: In Study 1, MS increased pro-American WVD only among relatively wealthy participants, which in turn reduced death-thought accessibility. In Study 2, MS increased pro-American WVD only among participants primed with felt success (vs. failure), which in turn reduced anxiety and depression.

Conclusions: Culture can relieve death-related distress and promote mental health to the extent that it provides feelings of success.

Meaning-making and rumour-mongering in the shadow of terrorism: The case of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris

The January 7, 2015 Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack in Paris shattered French civilians’ sense of security and also their sense of the surrounding world. This quasi-longitudinal study investigates the temporal dynamics of meaning-making and rumour-mongering processes of French civilians (N = 161) in a real-world, post-terrorist context. The present study was conducted via questionnaire at three points in time (i.e. one week, one month and two months) following the January 7, 2015 terrorist attack in Paris. In line with the social stage model of collective coping with disasters (Pennebaker & Harber, 1993), the main results suggest that participants’ coping process of searching for meaning decreased progressively over the two-month period. However, participants’ finding the presence of meaning as an outcome did not differ across time. Moreover, participants’ belief in rumours and official information was stable over the two-month period. Such findings point to the importance of considering the temporal perspective in order to provide a better understanding of laypeople’s symbolic responses to terrorism.

Putting the Terror in Terror Management Theory

Rooted in the writings of existentialists, terror management theory states that the awareness of death has the potential to create debilitating anxiety and compromise psychological well-being and that psychological buffers (e.g., self-worth) protect against these adverse effects. Hundreds of studies have supported the theory. However, until recently, little work has focused on the central assertion that the awareness of death causes anxiety and undermines well-being. We review a recent program of research that fills this critical void in the literature. This work has demonstrated that experimentally heightening the awareness of death increases anxiety and decreases well-being for individuals who lack appropriate psychological buffers.