Testing the Death Thought Suppression and Rebound Hypothesis: Death Thought Accessibility Following Mortality Salience Decreases During a Delay
Abstract
It is an important hypothesis of terror management theory that death thoughts are suppressed immediately following a mortality salience treatment but that, after a short delay during which suppression ceases, death thoughts become more accessible. Although there is much indirect empirical support for this idea, there are few direct tests. Our goal was to test this hypothesis with simple experiments. Thus, after mortality was made salient, death thought accessibility was measured immediately or after a delay. The results contradicted the prediction that death thought accessibility should be higher in the delay condition than in the no delay condition.
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It was impossible to control or monitor the delay between prime and essay rating, which may have thwarted the desired effects.
“Additionally, it was impossible to control or monitor the delay between prime and essay rating, which, in combination with the motivation for speedy responding, may have thwarted the desired effects [21, 23, 101].”
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 [21]
Previous work has found MS primes to be most effective in large samples of late adolescents and young adults who are White, North American undergraduates with low or fragile self-esteem, who complete inductions with precise timing during in-person administration.
“However, previous work has found MS primes to be most effective in large samples of late adolescents and young adults who are White, North American undergraduates with low or fragile self-esteem, who complete inductions with precise timing during in-person administration [19, 21, 23, 35].”
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 [21]
Individuals in the MS condition typically exhibit greater worldview defense than control conditions by rating the pro-national essay more positively and the anti-national essay more negatively.
“Individuals in the MS condition typically exhibit greater worldview defense than control conditions by rating the pro-national essay more positively and the anti-national essay more negatively.”
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 [21]
A seemingly necessary component of successful death-thought accessibility is a delay between the experimental induction and the measure of interest.
“A seemingly necessary component of successful death-thought accessibility is a delay between the experimental induction (i.e., the MS task) and the measure of interest [21, 23, 24].”
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 [21]
Following the delay, the inability to suppress death thoughts results in behavioral and attitudinal shifts (distal effects).
“Following the delay, the inability to suppress death thoughts results in behavioral and attitudinal shifts (distal effects) that are of interest to the researcher.”
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 [21]
Proximal defenses tend to be quite effective and longer delays result in greater defensive reactions and anxiety.
“Notably, proximal defenses tend to be quite effective and longer delays result in greater defensive reactions and anxiety [21, 25, 26].”
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 [21]
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 [21]
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 [21]
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- Authors
- Trafimow, D., & Hughes, J. S.
- Affiliations
- New Mexico State University (US)
- Daemen College (US)
- Corresponding author
- Trafimow, David
- Venue
- Social Psychological and Personality Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2012-01-10
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 622-629
- ISSN
- 1948-5506 (ISSN-L)
- 1948-5514
- OpenAlex
- W2171575673
- Cited by
- 33
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 4
- FWCI
- 3.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Social Psychological and Personality Science (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Media Influence and Health
- Keywords
- rebound effect, terror management theory, mortality salience, death-thought accessibility
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