Apocalypse now: Thoughts about human extinction under mortality salience increase death-thought accessibility but reduce worldview defense.
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| Title: | Apocalypse now: Thoughts about human extinction under mortality salience increase death-thought accessibility but reduce worldview defense. |
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| Authors: | Rihs, Michael (AUTHOR), Brodwolf, Flurina L. (AUTHOR), Mast, Fred W. (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Death Studies. 2026, Vol. 50 Issue 7, p1067-1078. 12p. |
| Subjects: | Death & psychology, Fear, Attitudes toward death, Mortality, Defense mechanisms (Psychology), Questionnaires, Anxiety, Emotions, Psychology, Personality, Analysis of variance, Social values, Theory, Psychology of college students, Data analysis software, Thought & thinking, Gamma rays, Video recording, Self-perception |
| Geographic Terms: | Germany |
| Abstract: | Various threats (e.g., climate change, nuclear wars, pandemics) pose the risk of human extinction. This represents a threat to human cultures and should result in effects similar to mortality salience (MS). At the same time, thoughts about human extinction reduce the belief in a long-lasting culture. This conflicts with the striving for symbolic immortality as a strategy to buffer MS. To investigate how thoughts about human extinction affect terror management, participants were presented with either an apocalyptic, destructive, or neutral video in combination with a manipulation of MS. Participants reported highest death-thought accessibility when watching the apocalyptic video under MS. However, worldview defense was decreased after watching the apocalyptic video under MS. These findings point to a dissociation between proximal and distal defense mechanisms: Thoughts about human extinction increase proximal defenses under MS, but they undermine the strive for symbolic immortality by worldview defense as distal defenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Various threats (e.g., climate change, nuclear wars, pandemics) pose the risk of human extinction. This represents a threat to human cultures and should result in effects similar to mortality salience (MS). At the same time, thoughts about human extinction reduce the belief in a long-lasting culture. This conflicts with the striving for symbolic immortality as a strategy to buffer MS. To investigate how thoughts about human extinction affect terror management, participants were presented with either an apocalyptic, destructive, or neutral video in combination with a manipulation of MS. Participants reported highest death-thought accessibility when watching the apocalyptic video under MS. However, worldview defense was decreased after watching the apocalyptic video under MS. These findings point to a dissociation between proximal and distal defense mechanisms: Thoughts about human extinction increase proximal defenses under MS, but they undermine the strive for symbolic immortality by worldview defense as distal defenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 07481187 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/07481187.2025.2469137 |
