Parent Cultural Differences in the Defensive Self-Esteem/Child-Mortality Salience Connection Jacob Jardel, Cameron University Dr. Jenel T. Cavazos, Cameron University Christopher P. Ditzfeld, University of Arkansas

Terror Management Theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986): the existential crisis evoked upon being faced with a reminder of one’s mortality (mortality salience) MS research shows two main responses to self- death primes (Solomon, Greenberg, & Pysczynksi, 2000): Self-esteem boost Increased attachment to worldview Introduction

Introduction Mortality Salience and Children: Self-mortality salience increases: The desire for offspring (Wisman & Goldenberg, 2005) The desire to name one's offspring after the self (Vicary, 2010) The threat of the death of one’s child raises self-esteem significantly more than the threat of self-death (Ditzfeld and Cavazos, 2013) Introduction

Introduction Mortality Salience and Culture Self-mortality increases identification with Indian cultural worldview in Indian population; prolonged death exposure may lead to a prolonged cultural worldview defense (Fernandez, Castano, & Singh, 2010) MS is associated with lower civic engagement intentions for those in individualistic cultures but higher intentions of civic engagement for those in collectivistic cultures (Green & Merle, 2013) Cultural differences in holism between East Asians and European Americans mediated the tendency to enjoy life when faced with self-MS (Ma-Kellams & Blascovich, 2012) Introduction

Introduction Current Research: Do those from individualistic and collectivistic cultures respond differently to child mortality salience? Hypothesis: parents from individualistic cultures will respond to child-MS with increased self esteem, whereas collectivist parents will display the opposite reaction Introduction

Methods Current Research: 382 parents (one or more children): Prompt: Traditional TMT writing prompt (Ditzfeld & Cavazos, 2013) State mood questionnaire (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) Explicit self-esteem questionnaire (RSES; Rosenberg, 1965) Prompt: “Describe the emotions that the thought of the death of a child [a child experiencing dental pain] arouses in you. What will happen to the child as he or she physically dies [experiences dental pain]?” Methods

Results Negative Mood: Parents prompted by child death (M = 2.29) felt more negatively than did parents prompted by child pain (M = 1.72), F(1, 98) = 7.90, p = .006 Indian parents (M = 2.33) rated experiencing more negative mood than did U.S. parents (M = 1.69), irrespective of condition, F(1, 98) = 10.00, p = .002 Results

Self-Esteem Main effect of lower self-esteem in Indian parents (M = 3.73) than in U.S. parents (M = 4.19), F(1, 98) = 9.83, p = .002; this effect was qualified by the predicted two-way interaction, F(1, 98) = 6.69, p = .011. U.S. parents’ self-esteem was lower in child-pain (M = 4.03) than in the child-death (M = 4.35) condition. Indian parents’ self-esteem was higher in child-pain (M = 3.95) than in the child-death (M = 3.51) condition. Results

Results

TMT-child threat effects may be restricted to parents in individualistic cultures Parents in the U.S. rely on the self when presented with threatening thoughts of their child’s morality Focus within Western culture is on finding strength in self, consistent with individualistic norms Indian parents’ self-esteem diminishes in response to the threat of child mortality Threat of broken relational bonds decreases feelings of self-worth, consistent with collectivist norms Conclusions

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