Defending one's worldview under mortality salience: Testing the validity of an established idea

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Authors

Terror management theory (TMT) posits that mortality salience (MS) leads to more negative perceptions of persons who oppose one's worldview and to more positive perceptions of persons who confirm one's worldview. Recent failed replications of classic findings have thrown into question empirical validity for this established idea. We believe, that there are crucial methodological and theoretical aspects that have been neglected in these studies which limit their explanatory power; thus, the studies of this registered report aimed to address these issues and to directly test the worldview defense hypothesis. First, we conducted two preregistered lab studies applying the classic worldview defense paradigm. The stimulus material (worldview-confirming and -opposing essays) was previously validated for students at a German university. In both studies, the MS manipulation (between-subjects) was followed by a distraction phase. Then, in Study 1 (N = 131), each participant read both essays (within-subjects). In Study 2 (N = 276), the essays were manipulated between-subjects. Credibility attribution towards the author was assessed as the dependent variable. In both studies, the expected interaction effects were not significant. In a third highly powered (registered) study (N = 1356), we used a previously validated worldview-opposing essay. The five classic worldview defense items served as the main dependent measure. The MS effect was not significant. Bayesian analyses favored the null hypothesis. An internal meta-analysis revealed a very small (Hedges' g = 0.09) but nonsignificant (p = .058) effect of MS. Altogether, the presented studies reveal challenges in providing convincing evidence for this established idea.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Aufsatznummer104087
ZeitschriftJournal of Experimental Social Psychology
Jahrgang93
Anzahl der Seiten13
ISSN0022-1031
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 01.03.2021
Extern publiziertJa

DOI

Zuletzt angesehen

Forschende

  1. Tanja Maier

Publikationen

  1. Kosmologische Spektakel - Universale Archive
  2. Rapid Identification of Bacteria in Clinical Microbiology Routiine Diagnostics using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry
  3. Handels- und Zusammenarbeitsabkommen EU/VK
  4. Agenturen und Integrierte Kommunikation
  5. Wozu Senden? Sendevisionen im Ersten und Dritten Fernsehzeitalter
  6. Die Collage als Spottidiom
  7. Wer kolportiert?
  8. The weighted Moran formula for the dimension of generic McMullen-Bedford carpets
  9. Experiential marketing as a tool to enhance Tourists’ pre-travel online destination experiences?
  10. Strategische Wendepunkte und Risikofrüherkennung am Beispiel des IT-Marktes
  11. Kriterien der interaktiven Unternehmenskommunikation im Internet
  12. Oliver E. Williamsons Transaktionskostenökonomik
  13. Platform for sustainable aviation fuels-combining ecological research and sustainability management with industrial needs
  14. Die Evaluationspraxis an Deutschen Schulen
  15. Passt die zeitgenössliche Kunst in ihre Institutionen?
  16. IM OSTEN GEHT DIE SONNE AUF
  17. ‚Infra-Politik‘ der Willkommensgesellschaft
  18. Albania
  19. Der deutsche Föderalismus zwischen zwei Konventen
  20. Energiekonzept: Die Energierevolution
  21. Gute fachliche Praxis
  22. Computerspiele – Neue Herausforderungen für die Ethik ?
  23. Insect abundance in managed forests benefits from multi-layered vegetation
  24. Bildungsreise in digitale Welten
  25. Magnesium recycling system prepared by permanent mould- and high pressure die casting
  26. The recombinant bifunctional protein αCD133–GPVI promotes repair of the infarcted myocardium in mice
  27. Ecological justice in agricultural systems
  28. Transdisziplinarität in der Nachhaltigkeitsforschung
  29. Schulbasierte Achtsamkeitsprogramme mit Kindern und Jugendlichen
  30. On the way to a Post-Carbon Society
  31. Inspektion der Stahlbetonteile einer Seeschleuse
  32. Aby Warburg and the Art of Translation
  33. Hochschule und Erlebnispädagogik
  34. Zeit für Systematik
  35. Veränderte Aufgaben und neue Profile. Professionalisierung und Professionalität in der Erwachsenenbildung