Effects of Mortality Awareness on the Meaning in Life - Methodological Examination in Terror Management Theory -

Abstract

In aging society, we are forced to think about the meaning of life with an awareness of mortality. Investigating the impact of death on the meaning of life is important for understanding the future state of Japanese society. Therefore, in this study, we conducted a quantitative investigation of the impact of ontological threat on the Meaning in Life Questionnaire with terror management theory. In addition, we conducted a methodological examination of a series of problems pointed out in recent psychology, such as reproducibility and generalizability. The results of GLMM analysis of the responses of 301 participants revealed that the experimental group that recalled ontological threat through mortality salience manipulation scored higher on MLQ-Presence than did the control group. MLQ-Presence was strongly positively correlated with well-being, suggesting that it is possible to address ontological threat in a way that contributes to well-being. On the other hand, no between-group differences were identified for MLO-Search. It was suggested that instead of searching for new meaning, Japanese adults cope with ontological threat by finding meaning in their present life.