1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. Methods Current Research: 382 parents (one or more children): Prompt:
Traditional TMT writing prompt (Ditzfeld & Cavazos, 2013)
State mood questionnaire (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, )
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

7. 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 =
Indian parents (M = 2.33) rated experiencing more negative mood than did U.S. parents (M = 1.69), irrespective of condition, F(1, 98) = , p = .002
Results

8. 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 = ) 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

9. Results

10. 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

11. Questions? Comments?