title: Interdependent self-construals mitigate the fear of death and augment the willingness to become a martyr.
abstract: Humans are motivated by a quest for significance that is threatened by the inevitability of death. However, individuals with interdependent self-construals, self-representations that reflect embeddedness with and connection to others, are able to extend themselves through time and space through their linkage to a larger social group. The present set of 5 experiments tested the hypotheses that individuals primed with an interdependent self-construal would fear death less and would be more willing to face harm for the sake of the group than individuals with an independent self-construal, that is, self-representations that reflect autonomy and independence from others ("I have self-control"). The results show that interdependent self-construals, compared to independent self-construals, attenuate death anxiety, reduce the avoidance of death, increase the approach to death-related stimuli, induce a greater willingness to become a martyr, and induce a greater willingness to sacrifice the self for other members of important groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Orehek
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University.
authors.forename: Jo A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sasota
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Maryland.
authors.forename: Arie W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Kruglanski
authors.affiliation: Center for Terrorism and Counterterrorism, University of Leiden-Campus The Hague.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dechesne
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Washington.
authors.forename: Leianna
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ridgeway
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001293:Attitude to Death; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D012933:Social Identification; D055815:Young Adult