Mortality salience in an offline and online setting
Open accessAbstract
The current study aims to examine the effects of mortality salience effects on worldview defense in an offline and online setting. Participants were 146 (66 offline and 80 online) Singaporeans. Participants were randomly assigned to either the mortality salience condition or the control condition and after a delay completed a Worldview Defense Assessment. No significant mortality salience effects on worldview defense occurred in either setting. The results might be explained by the Asian sample, Singapore's culture of tolerance, and data collection during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Future research directions include examining the effects of COVID-19 in activating worldview defense.
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These authors suggested that East Asian individuals may be more tolerant and/or fear death less than Westerners, both of which mitigate the terror that underlies MS inductions, potentially due to reduced individualism within these cultures.
“These authors suggested that East Asian individuals may be more tolerant and/or fear death less than Westerners, both of which mitigate the “terror” that underlies MS inductions, potentially due to reduced individualism within these cultures.”
From Not so terrifying after all? A set of failed replications of the mortality salience effects of Terror Management Theory (2023) · cites this paper as [32]
The Discussion (page unavailable) suggests that an Asian sample and Singapore’s culture of tolerance might explain the absent mortality-salience effect. It describes tolerance toward other ethnic and religious groups, not greater tolerance of death; it does not say East Asians fear death less than Westerners or link the result to reduced individualism. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThere have long been failures to replicate some of the basic effects seen in the TMT literature.
“There have also long been failures to replicate some of the basic effects seen in TMT literature [e.g., Ochsman, personal communication, cited in 27], even with meticulous methods, faithful experimental conditions, and enviable sample sizes [31, 32, 47–50].”
From Not so terrifying after all? A set of failed replications of the mortality salience effects of Terror Management Theory (2023) · cites this paper as [32]
In “Mortality salience in an offline and online setting” (page not provided), the paper reports that a 21-laboratory study with 2,220 participants failed to replicate a classic mortality-salience effect. Its Discussion also reports nonsignificant results in the authors’ own study. The copy does not establish that the failed replications used meticulous methods or faithful experimental conditions; it notes that relevant laboratory procedures can vary across studies. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSeveral groups who recruited primarily East Asian samples were unable to find significant effects or identified very small effects.
“Several groups who recruited primarily East Asian samples were unable to find significant effects or identified very small effects [e.g., 31–34].”
From Not so terrifying after all? A set of failed replications of the mortality salience effects of Terror Management Theory (2023) · cites this paper as [32]
The Discussion reports nonsignificant mortality-salience effects in both the offline and online groups. However, the Participants section identifies the sample as Singaporeans or long-term residents, and the Discussion says ethnicity was not collected. The paper therefore does not establish that its own sample was primarily East Asian. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Chew, P. K. H., & Yap, B. L. M.
- Affiliations
- James Cook University Singapore (SG)
- Corresponding author
- Chew, Peter K. H.
- ORCID
- Chew, Peter K. H.
- Venue
- Death Studies
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2021-02-23
- Volume
- 46
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 2085-2092
- ISSN
- 0748-1187 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-7683
- OpenAlex
- W3131844713
- Cited by
- 8
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 1.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Death Studies (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ResearchOnline at James Cook University (James Cook University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- mortality salience, worldview defense, COVID-19 pandemic, Asian participants, fear of death
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, Attitude to Death, Humans, Asian People
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