Death Highlights Material Comparisons

Terror management theory (TMT) highlights the motivational impacts ofthoughts of death in various aspects of everyday life. Since its inception in1986,more than1,000researches on TMT have been taken in America, Europe, Asia andother countries. However, researches on TMT are numbered in China10years after itwas introduced in2003because of the lack of the popular mortality salience (MS)material.Researchers in China argue the classic MS material widely used abroad isnot suitable to Chinese. I want to bring this classic MS material to my research andselect another two MS material named Guojuan Questionnaire and Xu SenyiQuestionnaire from the TMT studies in China. I developed a new MS materialaccording to Chinese unique culture. I rename this four MS materials to ClassicEdition, Guojuan Edition, Xu Senyi Edition and Niu Weihua Edition. I compare thisfour MS edition from implicit level and explicit level to find out the most effectiveedition and do a study in basic problem on TMT using this edition. Study1: implicitlevel using death-thought accessibility.Study2: explicit level using worldviewdefense. Study3: Applying the effective MS edition to do a study in basic problem onTMT. Undergraduates in Shanghai attend this study and the results is:⑴There is no aversive emotion and no difference in the degree of how muchthey like the MS edition in all of the four MS editions.⑵Subjects show their death-related thoughts in all of the four MS editions.⑶Subjects show more death-related thoughts in Niu Weihua Edition thanClassic Edition, Guojuan Edition and Xu Senyi Edition.⑷There is no improved DTA in all of the four MS edition.⑸Classic Edition is the most effective.⑹Guojuan Edition, Xu Senyi Edition and Niu Weihua Edition is invalid,andGuojuan Edition is the least effective.⑺Mortality salience effects can only found after delay. ⑻Mortality salience effects is induced by death-related thoughts rather thanother aversive stimulus.