Death and Presentation: How Mortality Salience and Framing Affects Attitudes Toward Welfare Recipients

Abstract

One hundred-five introductory psychology students were included in this study to determine whether death awareness and presentation of information would affect attitudes toward out-groups. The mortality salience hypothesis states that people will be more likely to hold negative attitudes toward out-groups when their existing beliefs are not supported and when mortality becomes salient. The results supported this hypothesis, suggesting that out-groups can alter people's attitudes according to existing beliefs. Compared to personal causes for people on welfare assistance, social causes did not show significantly different effects, nor were there any interaction effects between mortality salience and framing. The Interpersonal Judgment Scale was used to measure attitudes toward dissimilar others on two items: emotional liking and readiness to cooperate in a study with an out-group member.