Perceiving the World in Sacred Terms: Its Buffering Function Against Death Anxiety
type: CreativeWork
description: 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: 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.
author: Kesebir, Pelin
language: eng
keywords: Spirituality
date published: 2015-09-25T20:39:30Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:26:17Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/82188