Death Awareness and Prosocial Behavior: Differential Effects and Mechanisms of Death Reflection and Death Anxiety

Subjects: Psychology >> Management Psychology submitted time 2024-05-24

Mao Yanhao Liang Xinyu Jiang Chengming Sun Hongyue

Abstract： Studies showed that death awareness may promote or hinder prosocial behavior. This study simultaneously explored and compared the effects and mechanisms of different death awarenesses—death anxiety and death reflection—on prosocial behavior, and revealed the positive and negative effect mechanisms of death awareness on prosocial behavior. Based on the dual-existence system model of death awareness, this study explored the effects of the negative and positive aspects of death awareness—death anxiety and death reflection—on prosocial behaviors and their mechanisms through two studies: a questionnaire survey and a laboratory experiment. Study 1 measured participants’ death anxiety, death reflection, and prosocial behavioral tendencies through relevant scales, and initially explored the predictive effects of death anxiety and death reflection on prosocial tendencies, as well as the role of self-transcendence values and self-enhancement values in them. Study 2 applied experimental methods and selected public goods game situations and real donation situations in prosocial behavior to examine the impact of death awarenesses on prosocial behavior, and continued to verify the mediating role of self-transcendence values and self-enhancement values. Meanwhile, Study 2 set up different donation situations to examine the boundary conditions when individuals with different death awarenesses implement prosocial behaviors, and once again verified the psychological mechanism by which death awareness affects prosocial behavior. Participants were randomly assigned to the DR (Death Reflection) group, MS (Mortality Salience) group, and TR (Toothache Control) group and were required to complete the public goods game (PGG). Afterwards, the participants left the laboratory and participated in the donation activities outside the laboratory (to prevent them from feeling that the donation activities were part of the experiment). Differences in cooperation and donation behavior between participants under different manipulation conditions were compared. The results were observed as follows: 1) Death anxiety negatively predicted or reduced participants’ prosocial behavioral tendencies and behaviors; death reflection positively predicted or increased participants’ prosocial tendencies and behaviors. 2) The impact of death reflection and death anxiety on prosocial behavior was a dual-path mediating mechanism: self-enhancement values played a mediating role in the impact of death anxiety on prosocial behavior, and self-transcendence values played a mediating role in the impact of death reflection on prosocial behavior. 3) Donation context moderated the effects of death reflection and death anxiety on donation behavior. In the public donation situation, the donation amount of the participants in the death anxiety group was higher, while in the anonymous donation situation, participants donated more in the death reflection group. The donation context positively and negatively moderated the two mediating paths between death awareness and prosocial behavior respectively. This study measured, distinguished and compared the impact and mechanism of the specific cognitive states of death awareness—death anxiety and death rumination—on prosocial behavior, and proposes a “dual-path” mediating mechanism by which death awareness affects prosocial behavior. The “dual path” model provides supporting evidence for the dual existence system model, expands the research on the social adaptability of death awareness, and provides new ideas for research on the positive direction of death.

Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review

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