2024 Volume 39 Issue 3 Pages 212-219
In line with Singh (1993, 1995), this study aims to examine how mortality salience influences individuals’ preference for line drawings of the opposite sex’s body shape. Followed by mortality salience or control manipulation, participants were presented with 12 line drawings and asked to rank them in terms of attractiveness and other attributes. Consistent with earlier findings, males exhibited a stronger preference for female line drawings with a waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) of 0.7 at the standard body weight. Importantly, this preference was found to be amplified under the mortality salience condition compared to the control group. On the other hand, females exhibited a preference for male drawings with a WHR of 0.9 at the standard body weight, but mortality salience did not amplify the preference. The implications of the relationship between terror management processes and reproductive interest are discussed, particularly in terms of ensuring symbolic immortality.
