The Influence Of Death Reminders And Religious Beliefs On Relationship Perception

Mortality salience is a term of the Terror Management Theory. It is a reminder or reveal of people’s inevitability of death. In the condition of mortality salience, individual needs of the mental mechanism that can alleviate fear of death will increase. A large number of studies confirmed that close relationships have anxiety-buffering function, and individual will enhance the need of close relationship under mortality salience. However, for why people turn to seek close relationship after death reminded still no accurate and concrete answers. The western related research also shows that religious belief can also play a role in relieving death fear. Whether the theory is also applicable to our country has not yet been confirmed. The purpose of this paper is to test the effectiveness of the terror management theory in China through the following two experiments and to advancing the education of life.Combining pre-existing research methods, the present study attempted to apply experiment and measurement method providing a clear view of mortality salience on close relationship. Study1,90people from college and community were the object of study. Researchers manipulated the mortality salience and neutral remind by questionnaires in order to investigate the difference on perceived regards between the two groups. Study2,94people from college and community were the object of study, of which46with religious beliefs and48without. Researchers manipulated the mortality salience by questionnaires on both groups to investigate the difference on perceived regards between the two groups.Results:After the mortality salience, participants magnified the perception of regard from their companion, but did not magnify the perception of regard from themselves and average person.After the mortality salience, there is no significant difference between the religious and non-religious groups on the perception of regard.Conclusion:Close relationship can help individual alleviate the fear of death because perceived regard plays an important role.Religion’s role in alleviating the individual death fear is not obvious.