The effect of mortality salience and type of life on personality evaluation
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Gordillo, Fernando
Mestas, Lilia
Arana, José M.
Pérez, Miguel Ángel
Escotto, Eduardo Alejandro
Abstract / Description
Mortality salience, or awareness of the inevitability of one’s own death, generates a state of anxiety that triggers a defense mechanism for the control of thinking that affects different human activities and psychological processes. This study aims to analyze the effect of mortality salience on the formation of impressions. The sample comprised 135 women who made inferences about a woman’s personality from information about her life (type of life, LT: positive, negative), provided through five words, all positive or negative, that appeared surrounding a photograph, together with a sixth word that indicated whether she was “dead” or “alive” at the time (mortality manipulation, MM: dead, alive). The results pointed to a more negative assessment of life (Dead M - Alive M = -1.16, SE = .236, p < .001), emotional stability (Dead M - Alive M = -1.13, SE = .431, p = .010), and responsibility (Dead M - Alive M = -1.14, SE = .423, p = .008) only when the participants had access to negative information about the person assessed, and she was known to be dead. We discuss the results within the framework of Terror Management Theory, and analyze the different effects that the manipulation of mortality has on the formation of impressions depending on the type of information available.
Keyword(s)
emotion formation of impressions Terror Management Theory personality prominence of deathPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2017-05-31
Journal title
Europe's Journal of Psychology
Volume
13
Issue
2
Page numbers
286–299
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
peerReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Gordillo, F., Mestas, L., Arana, J. M., Pérez, M., & Escotto, E. A. (2017). The effect of mortality salience and type of life on personality evaluation. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 13(2), 286–299. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v13i2.1149
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Gordillo, Fernando
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Mestas, Lilia
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Arana, José M.
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Pérez, Miguel Ángel
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Escotto, Eduardo Alejandro
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2018-11-21T09:59:57Z
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Made available on2018-11-21T09:59:57Z
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Date of first publication2017-05-31
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Abstract / DescriptionMortality salience, or awareness of the inevitability of one’s own death, generates a state of anxiety that triggers a defense mechanism for the control of thinking that affects different human activities and psychological processes. This study aims to analyze the effect of mortality salience on the formation of impressions. The sample comprised 135 women who made inferences about a woman’s personality from information about her life (type of life, LT: positive, negative), provided through five words, all positive or negative, that appeared surrounding a photograph, together with a sixth word that indicated whether she was “dead” or “alive” at the time (mortality manipulation, MM: dead, alive). The results pointed to a more negative assessment of life (Dead M - Alive M = -1.16, SE = .236, p < .001), emotional stability (Dead M - Alive M = -1.13, SE = .431, p = .010), and responsibility (Dead M - Alive M = -1.14, SE = .423, p = .008) only when the participants had access to negative information about the person assessed, and she was known to be dead. We discuss the results within the framework of Terror Management Theory, and analyze the different effects that the manipulation of mortality has on the formation of impressions depending on the type of information available.en_US
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Publication statuspublishedVersion
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Review statuspeerReviewed
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CitationGordillo, F., Mestas, L., Arana, J. M., Pérez, M., & Escotto, E. A. (2017). The effect of mortality salience and type of life on personality evaluation. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 13(2), 286–299. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v13i2.1149
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ISSN1841-0413
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1044
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1236
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Language of contenteng
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PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
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Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v13i2.1149
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Keyword(s)emotionen_US
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Keyword(s)formation of impressionsen_US
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Keyword(s)Terror Management Theoryen_US
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Keyword(s)personalityen_US
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Keyword(s)prominence of deathen_US
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitleThe effect of mortality salience and type of life on personality evaluationen_US
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DRO typearticle
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Issue2
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Journal titleEurope's Journal of Psychology
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Page numbers286–299
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Volume13
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Visible tag(s)Version of Record