The enduring influence of death on health: insights from the terror management health model

Abstract

The terror management health model suggests targeting sources of self-esteem or identity, in conjunction with mortality salience, offers a pathway for health behavior promotion. To date, however, experimental evidence has been limited to single time point studies. Two studies assessed whether similar processes impact behavior over time. In Study 1, mortality salience was paired with exercise (i.e., riding a recumbent bike); two weeks later, individuals primed with mortality reported more exercise than those not primed with death, and this increased fitness-contingent self-esteem and exercise intentions. In Study 2, when smokers visualized a prototypical unhealthy (vs. typical) smoker after mortality salience, they reported more attempts to quit smoking (over three weeks) than participants not primed with mortality. This facilitated continued quit attempts and decreased smoker identification three weeks later. Implications are discussed for a longitudinal process model in which mortality salience catalyzes a reinforcing relationship between behavior and esteem/identity, potentially sustaining health behavior change over time.

Mental Health Impact of COVID-19: A global study of risk and resilience factors

“…15 The fear of losing a loved one and the grief following loss are other potential disturbances to mental health accompanying disease outbreaks. 16,17 Finally, it remains a consideration that SARS-CoV-2 may itself have neuropsychiatric manifestations as its effects on the nervous system are increasingly reported in patients who do not exhibit prominent respiratory tract symptoms. 18…”

Where Health and Death Intersect

“…In Morris, Goldenberg, Arndt, and McCabe (2016), when participants were primed with mortality and rode an exercise bike, they later reported exercising more in the 2 weeks that followed than did participants who were not reminded of mortality, and this led them to report basing their self-esteem more on fitness. In a second study, smokers who visualized a prototypical unhealthy smoker after being reminded of mortality reported more attempts to quit smoking in the following 3 weeks and became more committed to an identity as a nonsmoker, and this in turn inspired continued attempts over the next 3 weeks.…”

Together we can slow the spread of COVID‐19: The interactive effects of priming collectivism and mortality salience on virus‐related health behaviour intentions

“…When individuals derive self‐esteem from smoking cigarettes (Hansen, Winzeler, & Topolinski, 2010 ) or from attaining beauty standards associated with tanning behaviours (Cox et al., 2009 ), distal defences can drive paradoxical intentions to engage in those unhealthy behaviours to a greater extent. Conversely, non‐conscious mortality awareness can also motivate healthy behaviours like smoking cessation and increased exercise when identity‐relevant variables are introduced into the paradigm (e.g., thinking of a prototypically unhealthy smoker, or instilling fitness‐based self‐esteem contingencies; Morris, Goldenberg, Arndt, & McCabe, 2019 ). These studies reveal that when mortality concerns are activated outside of conscious awareness, motivations distal to health play a critical role in determining health behaviour.…”