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. 2023 Nov 22:14:1190906.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1190906. eCollection 2023.

Coping with mortality salience: the role of connection thinking and afterlife beliefs in Chinese context

Kun Wang #  1 , Zhaoyang Sun #  1 , Yubo Hou  1 , Mengchan Yuan  1
Affiliations

Coping with mortality salience: the role of connection thinking and afterlife beliefs in Chinese context

Kun Wang et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Introduction: Grounded in Terror Management Theory (TMT), this research explored the influence of mortality salience on preferences for afterlife beliefs (reincarnation vs. resignation to fate) within a Chinese context. We also examined the mediating role of death anxiety and the moderating effects of connection thinking across different age groups.

Methods: Across three experimental studies involving a cumulative sample of 485 Chinese participants, we primed individuals with thoughts of their own mortality and then assessed their death anxiety and proclivity toward reincarnation beliefs or resignation to fate. Connection thinking-a cognitive construct emphasizing relational interconnectedness-was also evaluated to ascertain its moderating impact.

Results: The data revealed a pronounced preference for reincarnation beliefs as a distal defense mechanism following mortality salience, significantly mediated by death anxiety. The moderating role of connection thinking was also verified, but with age-related differences: among younger Chinese participants (age < 35), heightened connection thinking buffered against increased death anxiety triggered by mortality salience and thus mitigated its mediating role. Conversely, for older participants (age ≥ 35), amplified connection thinking exacerbated both the increased death anxiety and its mediating effect.

Discussion: These findings contribute to TMT by elucidating the influence of death anxiety on the relationship between mortality salience and afterlife beliefs in the Chinese cultural context. They also enrich the literature on connection thinking by uncovering its moderating role. Moreover, our research yields practical implications for coping with mortality salience and alleviating existential anxiety, enhancing the understanding of these phenomena across different cultural and age groups.

Keywords: afterlife beliefs; connection thinking; death anxiety; mortality salience; reincarnation beliefs; terror management theory.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Conceptual model.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The results of mediation analysis. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The moderating effect of connection thinking (Study 2).
Figure 4
Figure 4
The moderating effect of connection thinking (Study 3).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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