The effects of a self-esteem boost and mortality salience on responses to boost relevant and irrelevant worldview threats

Previous research found that raising self-esteem attenuates mortality salience effects on reactions to cultural worldview threats. The present study assessed whether raising self-esteem attenuates such effects when a target specifically threatened the dimension on which the boost was predicated. Participants (a) received positive personality feedback emphasizing likelihood of success either in their major or a different domain or neutral feedback, (b) contemplated their mortality ma control topic and (c) evaluated targets threatening beliefs about the United States and the participant's major Replicating earlier findings, after mortality salience, neutral feedback participants derogated the anti-US. target, whereas positive feedback participants did not. However if the feedback mentioned participants' major mortality salience led to derogation of the anti-major target, even if the feedback was positive These findings indicate that when a target threatens a dimension on which a self-esteem boost is predicated, such a boost will not deter derogation following mortality salience.