Death and Desire

The recent slump in the economy has seen a significant decrease of consumer demand. The government is attempting many strategies to provoke the economy to be more active. Many of these involve increasing consumer demand. Some have proposed stimulus packages and tax breaks would accomplish this goal, but recent studies in mortality salience, however, reveal a much less costly possible alternative. These studies demonstrate how awareness of mortality affects peoples’ desires to consume and gain resources.

Terror management theory, TMT, describes how people react when confronted with their own mortality. TMT suggests that people cope with mortality salience by believing “in cultural worldviews that help them feel that they have meaningful lives and are worthy members of their culture.” (Kasser and Sheldon 348) This means that people will act in a way they feel reinforces their role in society. This has been supported through experiments demonstrating that those confronted with mortality salience are more likely to punish individuals that have a different world view. (Kasser and Sheldon 348) Similar experiments have also demonstrated that people are less likely to use symbols of society in a manner less than respectful when confronted with mortality salience. (Kasser and Sheldon 348) Using this evidence, psychologist hypothesized that those in a consumer dependant society like America would increase their desire for accumulation of wealth when confronted with their mortality. (Kasser and Sheldon 348)

Volunteers filled out a survey weeks before the experiment describing their current desires and expected wealth. On the day of the experiment, volunteers completed several filler surveys, along with two surveys for the experiment. Half of the group was given a survey that asked questions pertaining to their death. The other half had a separate survey. The last survey the volunteers completed asked them to rate their expected income and spending in fifteen years. The psychologists then took the data from the surveys to determine if mortality salience had an effect. The test found that overall, volunteers exposed to mortality salience expected to have more wealth and spend more money on pleasure items in the future. (Kasser and Sheldon 348-349)

This experiment was reinforced by another similar experiment. Volunteers were given surveys, half of which caused the volunteers to address their mortality. Afterwards all the volunteers conducted a forest management exercise. They were to act as the head of a company making bids on how much of a forest to harvest. They were informed how bids too high could cause the forest to deplete and bids to low could cause their company to lose money. The volunteers were asked to make first year bids and evaluate their expected profits versus their competitors. The results demonstrated that those who were exposed to mortality salience demonstrated a greater inclination to greed in their profits and a first year bids on average 12 to 13 acres larger than the control group. ((Kasser and Sheldon 350)

These experiments demonstrate how mortality salience can affect greed and consumption. We live in a capitalist society that emphasizes the individual as a consumer. When exposed to mortality salience, we reinforce this societal view through consumption. It may be that mortality salience could be an effective means of stimulating the economy. Certainly, there are ethical and other issues involved, but the solution to America’s spending problems may lie in mortality salience.

Sources
Kasser, Tim and Sheldon, Kennon. “Of Wealth and Death: Materialism, Mortality Salience, and Consumption Behavior”. Psychological Science. 2000.