Research has not explicitly examined the link between key components of terror management theory (TMT) and body image without the use of mortality salience. This project explored the link between cultural worldview, self-esteem, body image, and death anxiety. Multiple measures were used to create a structural equation model examining relationships between body image and death anxiety as mediated by body image in the context of TMT. The proposed model did not fit the data. Minor modifications were made to the model keeping within the proposed theoretical perspective. In the modified model the relationships between cultural worldview and death anxiety as mediated by body image were either non-existent or weak. Hierarchical regression analyses did suggest that some aspects of body image indeed did predict some, but not all dimension of death anxiety in this sample of young adults.

Terror management theory (TMT) seeks to understand religious worldview adherence, positing that worldview beliefs can abate existential threats such as mortality salience. Most research on TMT has employed young samples, so influences on older adults' experiences of mortality salience are unclear. Simultaneously, research on death anxiety shows that older people may view their own death more favorably than younger individuals do. Guided by the lifespan development perspective, I investigated whether the range of life experiences and interpretation of them might account for perceptions of death in old age. A multi-phase content analysis of in-depth interview transcripts from 16 adults aged 65+ focused on narratives of life events, religious worldviews, and death. The findings suggested how lifespan adversity, such as the death of a loved one, promoted growth in self and religious belief that enhanced participants' reported relationship with the sacred. In turn, participants' views of and beliefs about death were without fear, indicating the influence of highly individualized and deeply spiritual religious worldview beliefs on the abatement of death fear. These findings support extension of TMT to older people by identifying the impact of lifespan experiences with trauma and adversity as contributing to less superficial, more individualized conceptions of religious worldviews. Such worldviews, contingent upon growth from adaptation to lifespan experiences, may indeed lead to less death anxiety and reduce the effects of mortality salience in old age. / Master of Science

Surprisingly little experimental research has explored the psychological function of soul belief given its prevalence. As some have noted (e.g., Rank, 1930/1998), soul belief may have evolved to help individuals cope with existential concerns through promises of literal immortality. The research that has been conducted on the function of literal immortality shows that belief in an afterlife minimizes death-related concerns (Dechesne et al., 2003). I propose two separate hypotheses testing the psychological function of soul belief. Hypothesis 1 states that soul belief should minimize the threat of a death reminder (or mortality salience; MS); this hypothesis was supported in Study 1 where soul believers did not show an increase in death-thought accessibility (DTA) following MS, but low soul believers did show an increase. Hypothesis 2 states that soul belief should also offer protection from threats to symbolic immortality related to the prospect of the end-of-world. Studies 2, 3, 4, and 6 support the reasoning behind this hypothesis. However, Study 5 did not support Hypothesis 2. Considering the data that did support Hypothesis 2, soul believers showed less resistance to end-of-world arguments and also did not show an increase in DTA following such arguments; whereas, low soul believers respond to end-of-world arguments with more resistance and heightened DTA. The discussion focuses on interpretations of these findings and remaining questions.

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Terror management theory research suggests that self-esteem acts as an anxiety buffer and high self-esteem can reduce implicit death thoughts and worldview defense. Self-compassion, it is argued, enhances wellbeing by making people feel safe and secure, while self-esteem makes people feel superior and sometimes unrealistically self-confident. Through a series of studies, this dissertation investigated buffering of death anxiety by self-compassion. Studies 1 and 2 investigated the role of trait (Study 1) and induced (Study 2) self-compassion in buffering existential anxiety by reducing implicit death thoughts. Studies 3 and 4 investigated the role of trait (Study 3) and induced (Study 4) self-compassion in buffering existential anxiety by reducing worldview defense. The series of studies did not support the proposed hypotheses, as they failed to replicate the expected mortality salience effects. Because of this, the effects of self-compassion on implicit death anxiety were also not evident. Possible reasons for failure to reject the null hypotheses are discussed and recommendation for future studies is given.

Terror management theory suggests that the fear of death is ubiquitous. Only recently has death been examined as something potentially interesting from this framework, and specifically, to individuals high in trait openness (Boyd, Morris, & Goldenberg, 2017). This research, however, did not clearly delineate if participants were actually becoming interested in death. My studies address this ambiguity by examining what high openness individuals are becoming interested in and if the way death is construed impacts interest. Study 1 tested if in addition to becoming more generally interested, high openness individuals become interested in death per se following mortality salience (relative to a control), as Boyd et al. (2017) speculated. Analyses revealed that individuals high in experiential openness only became more interested in death if the death interest measure came after a scale of general interest (i.e., after a longer delay). In contrast to predictions, individuals high in general openness did not exhibit these effects. In Study 2, I hypothesized that high openness individuals would become more interested in art and philosophy following mortality salience (relative to a control) because of the relevance of these domains to openness. This hypothesis was not supported. In Study 3, I tested if highlighting death’s experiential or intellectual qualities would increase general interest and subsequently decrease death anxiety, depending on if one’s unique brand of openness valued such qualities. Only when death was construed of in an experiential manner (relative to a control) did individuals high in experiential openness become more generally interested, and unexpectedly, more anxious about death. Together these studies demonstrate that the aspect of openness related to valuing experience can actually increase one’s interest in death, and when death is construed in a way that corresponds with this type of openness, general interest also increases.

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The present study seeks to determine the relationship between Terror Management Theory (TMT) and various measures of existential anxiety, future consciousness, and future-oriented thinking. By using TMT as a theoretical construct, a scale was devised to measure participants’ protective behaviors relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. Three other scales were utilized, including Lalot’s Future Consciousness Scale (FCS), Strathman’s Consideration of Future Consequences Scale (CFCS), and Weems’ Existential Anxiety Questionnaire (EAQ). The scales were combined into one composite survey along with demographic questions. 315 participants were then administered the collection of scales via an only survey platform. Results indicated strong significant correlations between the scale developed and the three other scales utilized. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed the three scales utilized were strong predictor variables of proximal and distal protective behaviors as predicted by TMT. The possibilities for future research include expansion of the knowledge regarding protective behaviors during widespread health issues, and how to design programs to maximize protective behaviors to minimize health risks.

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