{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/82188"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/82188","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Perceiving the World in Sacred Terms: Its Buffering Function Against Death Anxiety","abstract":"The project tests the hypothesis that the tendency to perceive the secular world in sacred terms functions as a buffer against death anxiety and the possibly destructive effects of death anxiety, such as materialism. The sacred is associated with the qualities of transcendence (perception of a larger and sublime reality beyond appearances) and ultimacy (perception of utmost significance and value), which can render death thoughts less accessible, and/or less threatening. First, a measure of Sacredness Perception is developed to capture the extent to which individuals see sacredness in the seemingly secular aspects of life. Study 1 showed that after being reminded of their mortality, individuals who score high in Sacredness Perception report lower negative affect. Study 2 revealed that after being primed with mortality thoughts, individuals high in Sacredness Perception report lower death-thought accessibility. In Study 3, participants with high Sacredness Perception levels exhibited less materialistic tendencies after being reminded of their mortality. Study 4 manipulated Sacredness Perception, and found that an experimentally heightened sense of Sacredness Perception following reminders of mortality leads to lowered materialism compared to a control condition. Overall, the research program demonstrated that perceptions of sacredness, independent of a religious context, help individuals to manage their existential anxiety and deal with the potentially toxic byproducts of existential anxiety such as materialism.","abstract_html":"The project tests the hypothesis that the tendency to perceive the secular world in sacred terms functions as a buffer against death anxiety and the possibly destructive effects of death anxiety, such as materialism. The sacred is associated with the qualities of transcendence (perception of a larger and sublime reality beyond appearances) and ultimacy (perception of utmost significance and value), which can render death thoughts less accessible, and/or less threatening. First, a measure of Sacredness Perception is developed to capture the extent to which individuals see sacredness in the seemingly secular aspects of life. Study 1 showed that after being reminded of their mortality, individuals who score high in Sacredness Perception report lower negative affect. Study 2 revealed that after being primed with mortality thoughts, individuals high in Sacredness Perception report lower death-thought accessibility. In Study 3, participants with high Sacredness Perception levels exhibited less materialistic tendencies after being reminded of their mortality. Study 4 manipulated Sacredness Perception, and found that an experimentally heightened sense of Sacredness Perception following reminders of mortality leads to lowered materialism compared to a control condition. Overall, the research program demonstrated that perceptions of sacredness, independent of a religious context, help individuals to manage their existential anxiety and deal with the potentially toxic byproducts of existential anxiety such as materialism.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kesebir, Pelin"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Chiu, Chi-Yue"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-09-25T20:39:30Z","date_published":"2015-09-25T20:39:30Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:17Z","subjects":["Spirituality"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["(MiAaPQ)AAI3392086"],"render_values":[{"text":"(MiAaPQ)AAI3392086","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/82188","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Chiu, Chi-Yue"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kesebir, Pelin"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2015-09-25T20:39:30Z","10000-01-01","2009"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Spirituality"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/82188","(MiAaPQ)AAI3392086"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["The project tests the hypothesis that the tendency to perceive the secular world in sacred terms functions as a buffer against death anxiety and the possibly destructive effects of death anxiety, such as materialism. The sacred is associated with the qualities of transcendence (perception of a larger and sublime reality beyond appearances) and ultimacy (perception of utmost significance and value), which can render death thoughts less accessible, and/or less threatening. First, a measure of Sacredness Perception is developed to capture the extent to which individuals see sacredness in the seemingly secular aspects of life. Study 1 showed that after being reminded of their mortality, individuals who score high in Sacredness Perception report lower negative affect. Study 2 revealed that after being primed with mortality thoughts, individuals high in Sacredness Perception report lower death-thought accessibility. In Study 3, participants with high Sacredness Perception levels exhibited less materialistic tendencies after being reminded of their mortality. Study 4 manipulated Sacredness Perception, and found that an experimentally heightened sense of Sacredness Perception following reminders of mortality leads to lowered materialism compared to a control condition. Overall, the research program demonstrated that perceptions of sacredness, independent of a religious context, help individuals to manage their existential anxiety and deal with the potentially toxic byproducts of existential anxiety such as materialism.","Made available in DSpace on 2015-09-25T20:39:30Z (GMT). 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The sacred is associated with the qualities of transcendence (perception of a larger and sublime reality beyond appearances) and ultimacy (perception of utmost significance and value), which can render death thoughts less accessible, and/or less threatening. First, a measure of Sacredness Perception is developed to capture the extent to which individuals see sacredness in the seemingly secular aspects of life. Study 1 showed that after being reminded of their mortality, individuals who score high in Sacredness Perception report lower negative affect. Study 2 revealed that after being primed with mortality thoughts, individuals high in Sacredness Perception report lower death-thought accessibility. In Study 3, participants with high Sacredness Perception levels exhibited less materialistic tendencies after being reminded of their mortality. Study 4 manipulated Sacredness Perception, and found that an experimentally heightened sense of Sacredness Perception following reminders of mortality leads to lowered materialism compared to a control condition. Overall, the research program demonstrated that perceptions of sacredness, independent of a religious context, help individuals to manage their existential anxiety and deal with the potentially toxic byproducts of existential anxiety such as materialism.","Made available in DSpace on 2015-09-25T20:39:30Z (GMT). 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