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Does self-esteem inflation mitigate mortality salience effects on suicide attitudes?
Athena Kheibari1, Julie Cerel2
1School of Social Work, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior
|April 27, 2021
Summary
Enhancing self-esteem can reduce suicide stigma. This intervention helps mitigate death anxiety
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Suicide stigma presents a significant obstacle to prevention and intervention efforts.
- Terror Management Theory (TMT) provides a framework for understanding how individuals cope with existential concerns, including death anxiety.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether enhancing self-esteem can buffer against suicide stigma.
- To determine if self-esteem enhancement leads to more prosocial attitudes and behaviors related to suicide prevention.
Main Methods:
- Experimental design utilizing death-priming and a self-esteem boost intervention (positive feedback).
- Participants were randomly assigned to either a positive feedback or a control group.
- Dependent variables included evaluations of a suicide decedent, intentions to intervene, and charitable donation behavior.
Main Results:
- A self-esteem boost significantly mitigated the negative impact of death anxiety on donation behavior ($16.37 difference).
- Positive feedback increased willingness to intervene against suicide among participants with low self-esteem.
Conclusions:
- Self-esteem enhancement interventions show potential in reducing defensive reactions associated with suicide stigma.
- Findings suggest a promising avenue for improving suicide prevention and intervention strategies.
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