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PreprintCited by 14Death Anxiety and Social ExclusionMeta-analysis and systematic reviewsPsychology Research and Bibliometrics

Managing the terror of publication bias: A comprehensive p-curve analysis of the Terror Management Theory literature

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Chen, Lihan, Benjamin, Rachele, Lai, Addison, Heine, Steven·2022
DOI 10.31234/osf.io/kuhy6
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Abstract

A key prediction of Terror Management Theory is that people affirm their cultural worldview after they are reminded of death. This mortality salience (MS) hypothesis has been widely explored, yet the presence of questionable research practices may impact the replicability of this literature. We assess the evidential value of the MS hypothesis by conducting a pre-registered p-curve analysis of 860 published studies. Our results suggest that there are nonzero effects in this literature and that power is larger for studies conducted with multiple delays between the independent and dependent variables, for studies that test for main effects in comparison to those that test for interactions, and for studies conducted more recently. However, since the estimated average power of MS studies is 26%, direct replications are unlikely to succeed. We recommend researchers consider our evidence when planning their samples, and that they anticipate smaller effects by increasing their sample sizes.

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Chen, L., Benjamin, R., Lai, A., & Heine, S.
Affiliations
University of British Columbia (CA)
ORCID
Publisher
Center for Open Science
Published
2022-01-03
DOI
10.31234/osf.io/kuhy6
OpenAlex
W4206173291
Cited by
14
References
22
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1
Type
posted content
Language
en
Open access
Locations
PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Psychology Research and Bibliometrics
Keywords
terror management theory, mortality salience, worldview defense, questionable research practices, publication bias, p-curve analysis, statistical power, replication, sample size determination, pre-registered analysis

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