Death Goes to the Polls: A Meta-Analysis of Mortality Salience Effects on Political Attitudes
Abstract
Terror management theory posits that people are motivated to affirm cultural meaning systems, including political ideologies, to avoid the awareness of mortality. Accordingly, studies show that increasing mortality salience (MS) intensifies people's attitudes toward political issues and figures. However, whereas in some studies MS increases affirmation of preexisting political ideologies, be they liberal or conservative (supporting a “worldview‐defense hypothesis”), in other studies MS elicits a general shift toward conservatism, regardless of preexisting ideology (supporting a “conservative‐shift hypothesis”). The current study used meta‐analysis to assess the overall magnitude of MS effects on explicitly political attitudes and to clarify the nature of these effects by comparing effect sizes for these competing hypotheses. The overall effect of MS on political attitudes was large (r = .50). The effects of MS‐induced worldview defense (r = .35) and conservative shifting (r = .22) were significant and statistically equivalent. We discuss the conditions (e.g., contextual salience of political values) under which conservative shifting or worldview defense occurs.
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On the surface, the large literature on TMT indicates that the effects of MS are robust and replicable, even in small samples.
“On the surface, the large literature on TMT indicates that the effects of MS are robust and replicable, even in small samples.”
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 [56]
There may be some cause for concern given the variability in effect size as a function of sample composition and precise methodology used.
“Still, there may be some cause for concern given the variability in effect size as a function of sample composition and precise methodology used [19, 21, 23, 35, 56].”
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 [56]
The mean age for participants across all studies in the present paper was 34.8 years old (SD=12.5), which is significantly older than the average of studies reported in Burke, Martens (19), M=22.2, SD=4.7; t(280)=5.70, p<.001, d=1.33, and Burke, Kosloff (56), M=22.9 years, SD=4.30; t(34)=4.19, p=.002, d=1.27.
“The mean age for participants across all studies in the present paper was 34.8 years old (SD = 12.5), which is significantly older than the average of studies reported in Burke, Martens (19), M = 22.2, SD = 4.7; t (280) = 5.70, p < .001, d = 1.33, and Burke, Kosloff (56), M = 22.9 years, SD = 4.30; t (34) = 4.19, p = .002, d = 1.27.”
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 [56]
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- Authors
- Burke, B. L., Kosloff, S., & Landau, M. J.
- Affiliations
- Fort Lewis College (US)
- California State University, Fresno (US)
- University of Kansas (US)
- ORCID
- Landau, Mark J.
- Venue
- Political Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2013-01-24
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 183-200
- ISSN
- 0162-895X (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9221
- OpenAlex
- W2095792182
- Cited by
- 209
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 11.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Political Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (24653250)
- 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, terror management theory, political attitudes, political ideology, worldview defense, conservatism, fear of death
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