Death Thought Accessibility as a Function of Ostracism and Self-Esteem

Previous studies on terror management and mortality salience suggest that self-esteem and worldview (i.e. religious beliefs) are two buffers individuals use to cope with their own mortality (Schimel, Hayes, Williams, & Jahrig, 2007). Research has shown that death related thoughts are made conscious when such buffers are threatened (Hayes, Schimel, Faucher, & Williams, 2008). The present studies examine the relationship between independent variables: source of self-esteem (extrinsic/intrinsic) and peer relationship (based on ostracizing/inclusive/neutral stimuli); and the dependent variable, Death Thought Accessibility (DTA). A survey on Extrinsic Contingency Focus (ECF), personal writing exercise, and word completion task measured these variables. Results revealed that DTA was dependent upon an interaction of the independent variables. Specifically, among participants with extrinsic self-esteem, ostracized participants had higher DTA than those in the inclusive or neutral conditions