Graduation Year
2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Degree Granting Department
Psychology
Major Professor
Anthony Coy, Ph.D.
Co-Major Professor
Jay Michaels, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Jamie Goldenberg, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Ruthann Atchley, Ph.D.
Keywords
Terror Management Theory, Mortality Salience, Self-Transcendence
Abstract
This thesis investigated the emotion awe as protective against mortality salience by fulfilling sense of immortality – a proposed need created by mortality salience. Mortality salience has been shown to increase cultural worldview defense, which sometimes has detrimental social effects. This study aimed to test if inducing feelings of awe would reduce the need to rely on cultural worldview defense in response to mortality salience. The pilot study (N = 239) found evidence for a relationship between awe and sense of immortality. The primary study (N = 167) tested a main effect of mortality salience on cultural worldview defense (H1) and an interaction (H2) where awe would buffer worldview defense in response to mortality salience. A 2(essay: mortality salience vs. dental pain) x 2(emotion induction: awe vs. neutral emotion induction) between-subjects experiment did not find evidence for the predicted main effect or interaction. Limitations, including the strength of manipulation and outcome sensitivity, are discussed along with implications for future research.
Scholar Commons Citation
Eisenberg, Sabrina J., "Sense of Immortality as a Death Anxiety Buffer: An Investigation Through Awe" (2025). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/10858
