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Greater death anxiety, greater dishonesty for self-benefit: The moderating role of social dominance orientation
- Source :
- Motivation and Emotion. 45:368-376
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Dishonesty evolved under natural selection among species. Whether or not individuals become dishonest for self-benefit when they experience distress by thinking about their own death is crucial and unclear. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between death anxiety (i.e., individuals’ anxiety about their own death) and individuals’ tendencies to be dishonest, and whether individuals’ social dominance orientation (SDO) moderated the relationship between death anxiety and tendency for self-benefit dishonesty behaviors. Using two large-scale samples (Studies 1 and 3) and one undergraduate sample (Study 2), three studies (N = 3511) were conducted; all studies supported our hypothesis that death anxiety was positively associated with self-benefit dishonesty. Additionally, results showed that the relationship between death anxiety and tendency to be dishonest only occurred when individuals had a high SDO. These findings inform research on death anxiety by revealing its evolutionary functions regarding the promotion of resource-seeking behaviors (e.g., self-benefit dishonesty).
- Subjects :
- Social Psychology
Dishonesty
media_common.quotation_subject
05 social sciences
050109 social psychology
Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
medicine.disease
050105 experimental psychology
Distress
Death anxiety
Promotion (rank)
medicine
Anxiety
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
medicine.symptom
Psychology
Social dominance orientation
media_common
Clinical psychology
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15736644 and 01467239
- Volume :
- 45
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Motivation and Emotion
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........c9bddc06208a5435c00b6d878a86a7ee