title: The effects of trait self-esteem and death cognitions on worldview defense and search for meaning.
abstract: Terror management theory asserts that attaining self-esteem by adhering to the standards of meaning-providing worldviews helps manage death concerns. Research has shown that mortality salience (MS) increases worldview defense, however, there are conflicting results concerning how trait self-esteem moderates this effect. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that MS increases worldview defense for high, but not low, trait self-esteem individuals. These studies raised the question as to whether those with low trait self-esteem engage in efforts to find meaning in response to MS. Study 3 showed that MS increased the search for meaning for low, but not high, trait self-esteem individuals.
authors: a Department of Psychology , North Dakota State University , Fargo , North Dakota , USA.
authors: Jacob
authors: J
authors: Juhl
authors: Clay
authors: C
authors: Routledge
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001293:Attitude to Death; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010684:Philosophy; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011897:Random Allocation; D012649:Self Concept; D055815:Young Adult