Death Priming Does Not Appear to Reduce Cognitive Reflection

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-30-2025

Abstract

According to Terror Management Theory (TMT), people reduce the existential dread caused by the thought of their own deaths by clinging more tightly to already held beliefs. This might reduce abilities related to critical thinking about those beliefs, like cognitive reflection, after exposure to a death prime. In the present study, participants were given the MAPS survey, and were randomly assigned either to a death prime condition or a dental pain control condition. Participants were then given an intervening task, followed by the CRT-7 and the CRT-V in randomized order. Results from 200 participants indicated that exposure to a death prime did not reduce cognitive reflection when measured using the CRT-7 but results are more complicated when using the CRT-V.

Comments

Originally published in the North American Journal of Psychology

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Publication Title

North American Journal of Psychology

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