title: Self-regulatory processes defend against the threat of death: Effects of self-control depletion and trait self-control on thoughts and fears of dying.
abstract: Nine studies (N = 979) demonstrated that managing the threat of death requires self-regulation. Both trait and state self-control ability moderated the degree to which people experienced death-related thought and anxiety. Participants high (vs. low) in self-control generated fewer death-related thoughts after being primed with death, reported less death anxiety, were less likely to perceive death-related themes in ambiguous scenes, and reacted with less worldview defense when mortality was made salient. Further, coping with thoughts of death led to self-regulatory fatigue. After writing about death versus a control topic, participants performed worse on several measures of self-regulation that were irrelevant to death. These results suggest that self-regulation is a key intrapsychic mechanism for alleviating troublesome thoughts and feelings about mortality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1270, USA. gailliot@psy.fsu.edu
authors.forename: Matthew T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Gailliot
authors.forename: Brandon J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Schmeichel
authors.forename: Roy F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Baumeister
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000339:Affect; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D001143:Arousal; D001293:Attitude to Death; D001364:Awareness; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D009903:Optical Illusions; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011340:Problem Solving; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D013850:Thinking