Finding death in meaninglessness: Evidence that death-thought accessibility increases in response to meaning threats.

The meaning maintenance model proposes that violations to one's expectations will cause subsequent meaning restoration. In attempts to distinguish meaning maintenance mechanisms from mechanisms of terror management, previous research has failed to find increased death-thought accessibility (DTA) in response to various meaning threats. The present research suggests that this failure may have resulted from methodological differences in the way researchers measured DTA. Studies 1a and 1b found that by replacing this method with a standard method employed when studying worldview and self-esteem threats, DTA increased in response to two different meaning violations. Study 2 found increased DTA, but only among individuals high in personal need for structure, when using this standard DTA procedure, but not when using the procedure taken from previous meaning maintenance studies. Interestingly, these studies did not find increased meaning restoration, so an additional study (Study 3) was designed to provide a theoretically informed examination of this null effect. A meaning restoration effect was observed after removing the standard DTA assessment procedure, but only among participants high in personal need for structure. Implications for the threat-compensation literature are discussed.

Increases in generative concern among older adults following reminders of mortality.

According to terror management theory, people are motivated to protect themselves from the potential for anxiety resulting from awareness of mortality. It was hypothesized that increased concern for future generations, and the symbolic immortality this produces, may be particularly important to older adults when awareness of their mortality is increased. In two studies, older and younger adults' generative concern was examined following mortality or control primes. As hypothesized, older adults' generative concern and preference for pro-social over pro-self generativity were greater following reminders of mortality, whereas neither effect was observed among younger adults. For both studies, age differences were only observed when mortality salience was heightened; older and younger adults' generative concern did not differ in control conditions. Results provide support for the hypothesis that younger and older adults differ in their responses to increased awareness of mortality and suggest that older adults respond to death reminders by adopting a more pro-social generative orientation.

Increases in generative concern among older adults following reminders of mortality.

According to terror management theory, people are motivated to protect themselves from the potential for anxiety resulting from awareness of mortality. It was hypothesized that increased concern for future generations, and the symbolic immortality this produces, may be particularly important to older adults when awareness of their mortality is increased. In two studies, older and younger adults' generative concern was examined following mortality or control primes. As hypothesized, older adults' generative concern and preference for pro-social over pro-self generativity were greater following reminders of mortality, whereas neither effect was observed among younger adults. For both studies, age differences were only observed when mortality salience was heightened; older and younger adults' generative concern did not differ in control conditions. Results provide support for the hypothesis that younger and older adults differ in their responses to increased awareness of mortality and suggest that older adults respond to death reminders by adopting a more pro-social generative orientation.