An unscathed past in the face of death: Mortality salience reduces individuals' regrets

Assuaging death anxiety in older overseas-born Australians of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds hospitalised for end-of-life care

“…As a process, it encompasses ensuring that the patient and family receive "clear and relevant information", that the necessary time is taken "to listen and to understand the situation from the patient's point of view", and that health care providers tailor their communication in accordance with the patient and family's understanding of what is happening. Such an approach has been identified as also being helpful in providing quality EOL care to individuals who have unresolved regrets and concerns about the past (see also Rudert et al, 2015), who are finding it difficult to reconcile the ambiguity of a finite existence, and who are otherwise struggling to find meaning and purpose in their lives before they die (Lehto, 2012; see also Ma-Kellams & Blascovich, 2012). The findings of this study affirm this view.…”

“…The terror of death that human beings have, their desire to transcend this terror, and the strategies they use to keep their death-related fears and anxieties contained have all been well documented (Bauman, 1992;Becker, 1973Becker, , 1975Firestone & Catlett, 2009;Kubler-Ross, 1969;Ma-Kellams & Blascovich, 2012;Rudert, Reutner, Walker, & Greifeneder, 2015;Solomon, Greenberg, & Pyszczynski, 2015). A principle mechanism by which people keep their terror of death and related anxieties contained is human culture, which, as Solomon et al (2015) have shown, serves to infuse people's lives with order, stability, significance and purpose.…”

Increasing skepticism toward potential liars: effects of existential threat on veracity judgments and the moderating role of honesty norm activation

“…Hence, most statements should be judged as true. Evidence on MS induced reduction of dissonance ( Jonas et al, 2003 ) and increased self-serving bias ( Mikulincer and Florian, 2002 ; Rudert et al, 2015 ) could be interpreted as support for this kind of positive illusion. Although seemingly plausible, we claim that such a perspective, in general, has its evolutionary limits and is therefore less valid.…”

“…Although seemingly plausible, we claim that such a perspective, in general, has its evolutionary limits and is therefore less valid. Rudert et al (2015) , for example, found that people reduce their regrets after being reminded of their own death. However, as the authors stated themselves, motivational and also (negative) affective states evolutionarily developed to enable an adequate adaptive reaction ( Smith and Semin, 2004 ).…”

Benevolent Creativity Buffers Anxiety Aroused by Mortality Salience: Terror Management in COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Previous research has found that awareness of death leads individuals to express more hostility toward those who violate their moral code and who criticize their culture ( Greenberg et al, 1990 ; Florian and Mikulincer, 1997 ). On the other hand, mortality salience also promotes more self-esteem striving behaviors ( Schmeichel et al, 2009 ) such as the tendency to estimate higher future financial success ( Kasser and Sheldon, 2000 ) and holding fewer regrets about the past ( Rudert et al, 2015 ). Some scholars also regard the search for a close relationship as a new defense mechanism, and they propose that investing in intimate relationships could buffer existential anxiety ( Mikulincer et al, 2002 ).…”