Mortality Salience and Smokers' Reactions to Anti-smoking Messages

Terror management theory (TMT) states that self-esteem acts as a buffer to prevent humans from experiencing anxiety about their own mortality. TMT research on health behaviors has demonstrated that people are more likely to engage in risky health behaviors that are consistent with their self-image when under the influence of mortality salience (MS). The present study looks to reverse that tendency by coupling MS with messages that present self-image related risky health behaviors as socially threatening. When smokers were presented with socially threatening anti-smoking messages, participants who received an MS induction were more likely to report higher quitting intentions compared to controls. No such difference was found for participants who were presented with anti-smoking messages that threatened health. Implications for how TMT could be utilized to create more persuasive health messages is discussed