Blowing in the (social) wind: Implications of extrinsic esteem contingencies for terror management and health.

Abstract

In 4 studies, the role of extrinsic esteem contingencies in adjusting to shifting health-relevant standards when managing existential fears was examined. Study 1 demonstrated that after reminders of death, higher dispositional focus on extrinsic self-esteem contingencies predicted greater interest in tanning. Using a more domain-specific approach, Study 2 showed that, after being reminded of death, the more individuals smoke for social esteem reasons, the more compelling they find an antismoking commercial that exposes adverse social consequences of smoking. Study 3 explored how situational factors (i.e., priming a contingent relational schema) that implicate extrinsic contingencies facilitated the impact of shifting standard primes on tanning intentions after mortality salience. Finally, Study 4 found that mortality salience led to increased endorsement of exercise as a basis of self-worth when participants who derive self-esteem from extrinsic sources visualized someone who exercises. Together, these studies demonstrate that reminders of death interact with prevalent social standards to influence everyday health decisions.

An Integrative Terror Management Theory Perspective on Media Effects: A Model and 12 Hypotheses for Research

“…Messages should suggest ways that individuals can find meaning and personal significance in adopting healthful responses. In a word, messages must target the fundamental function the attitude serves, matching the message appeal to the underlying function (Carpenter, Boster, & Andrews, 2013; for supportive evidence see Arndt, Cox, Goldenberg, Vess, Routledge, Cooper, & Cohen, 2009;Arndt, Schimel, & Goldenberg, 2003;. Thus, from a communication perspective, fear appeals directed at individuals whose self-concepts are wrapped up in an unhealthy behavior should not strictly focus on surface-level appeals to health.…”

Terror in time: extending culturomics to address basic terror management mechanisms

“…Out of the Top 10 words that most strongly co-vary with the word "death", six were medical terms. This suggests that linking mortality salience to health-related behaviours may be a particularly fruitful avenue of study (Arndt et al, 2009;Goldenberg & Arndt, 2008;McCabe, Vail, Arndt, & Goldenberg, 2014).…”

Where Health and Death Intersect

“…For example, when smokers viewed a public service announcement concerning the social consequences of smoking (e.g., “who wants to date someone with bad breath”), participants reminded of mortality had higher quit intentions than observed without mortality reminders (Arndt et al, 2009; also Wong et al, 2016). Conveying positive social norms can also be useful in this regard.…”