Since late-2019, the world has been trying to overcome an invisible killer: COVID-19. With near constant reminders of the virus the knowledge that a tiny viral particle has potential to harm or even kill has become overwhelming for many. Terror Management Theory (TMT) suggests that when individuals are reminded of their own death people take part in culturally appropriate activities and defend their own culture as ways to alleviate this increased death anxiety. The current study aims to identify whether 1) reminders of COVID-19 prime death thoughts, 2) reminders of COVID-19 increase death anxiety, and 3) increased death anxiety from COVID-19 reminders also increase worldview defense. The results have provided evidence that thinking about COVID-19 does not prime death anxiety reducing behaviors.
","abstract_html":"<p>Since late-2019, the world has been trying to overcome an invisible killer: COVID-19. With near constant reminders of the virus the knowledge that a tiny viral particle has potential to harm or even kill has become overwhelming for many. Terror Management Theory (TMT) suggests that when individuals are reminded of their own death people take part in culturally appropriate activities and defend their own culture as ways to alleviate this increased death anxiety. The current study aims to identify whether 1) reminders of COVID-19 prime death thoughts, 2) reminders of COVID-19 increase death anxiety, and 3) increased death anxiety from COVID-19 reminders also increase worldview defense. The results have provided evidence that thinking about COVID-19 does not prime death anxiety reducing behaviors.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Shavers, Sahvannah K"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts - Psychology","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Lauren Brewer"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:37Z","subjects":["Social and Cultural Anthropology","Social Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/452","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Lauren Brewer"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Shavers, Sahvannah K"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-05-04T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts - Psychology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Social and Cultural Anthropology","Social Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/452"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Since late-2019, the world has been trying to overcome an invisible killer: COVID-19. With near constant reminders of the virus the knowledge that a tiny viral particle has potential to harm or even kill has become overwhelming for many. Terror Management Theory (TMT) suggests that when individuals are reminded of their own death people take part in culturally appropriate activities and defend their own culture as ways to alleviate this increased death anxiety. The current study aims to identify whether 1) reminders of COVID-19 prime death thoughts, 2) reminders of COVID-19 increase death anxiety, and 3) increased death anxiety from COVID-19 reminders also increase worldview defense. The results have provided evidence that thinking about COVID-19 does not prime death anxiety reducing behaviors.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["COVID-19’s Effects on Mortality Salience, Death Anxiety, and Worldview Defense"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Lauren Brewer"],"dc:creator":["Shavers, Sahvannah K"],"dc:date.available":["2022-05-04T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Since late-2019, the world has been trying to overcome an invisible killer: COVID-19. With near constant reminders of the virus the knowledge that a tiny viral particle has potential to harm or even kill has become overwhelming for many. Terror Management Theory (TMT) suggests that when individuals are reminded of their own death people take part in culturally appropriate activities and defend their own culture as ways to alleviate this increased death anxiety. The current study aims to identify whether 1) reminders of COVID-19 prime death thoughts, 2) reminders of COVID-19 increase death anxiety, and 3) increased death anxiety from COVID-19 reminders also increase worldview defense. The results have provided evidence that thinking about COVID-19 does not prime death anxiety reducing behaviors.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/452"],"dc:subject":["Social and Cultural Anthropology","Social Psychology"],"dc:title":["COVID-19’s Effects on Mortality Salience, Death Anxiety, and Worldview Defense"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts - Psychology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:37Z"}