Cancer and the threat of death: The cognitive dynamics of death-thought suppression and its impact on behavioral health intentions

被引:91
作者
Arndt, Jamie
Cook, Alison
Goldenberg, Jamie L.
Cox, Cathy R.
机构
[1] Univ Missouri, Dept Psychol Sci, Columbia, MO 65211 USA
[2] Univ Florida, Dept Psychol, Gainesville, FL 32611 USA
关键词
terror management; health threats; construct accessibility;
D O I
10.1037/0022-3514.92.1.12
中图分类号
B84 [心理学];
学科分类号
04 ; 0402 ;
摘要
Five studies examined the cognitive association between thoughts of cancer and thoughts of death and their implication for screening intentions. Study I found that explicit contemplation of cancer did not increase death-thought accessibility. In support of the hypothesis that this reflects suppression of death-related thoughts, Study 2 found that individuals who thought about cancer exhibited elevated death-thought accessibility under high cognitive load, and Study 3 demonstrated that subliminal primes of the word cancer led to increased death-thought accessibility. Study 4 revealed lower levels of death-thought accessibility when perceived vulnerability to cancer was high, once again suggesting suppression of death-related thoughts in response to conscious threats associated with cancer. Study 5 extended the analysis by finding that after cancer salience, high cognitive load, which presumably disrupts suppression of the association between cancer and death, decreased cancer-related self-exam intentions. Theoretical and practical implications for understanding terror management, priming and suppression, and responses to cancer are discussed.
引用
收藏
页码:12 / 29
页数:18
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