Temporal Perspective and Prosocial Behavior Under Mortality Salience: Evidence from Chinese University Students

Existing research on mortality salience (MS) and prosocial behavior demonstrates inconsistent findings, suggesting potential moderation by psychological variables. One such potential moderator is temporal perspective, which fundamentally shapes individuals' understanding of life course. This study examines how temporal perspective moderates the effect of MS on prosocial behavior.

A 3 (blank control vs linear temporal perspective vs cyclical temporal perspective) × 2 (MS vs dental pain) between-subjects design was implemented. Participants (N=212) were randomly assigned to different groups. Prosocial behavior was measured through self-reported helping intentions. Participants' prosocial behavior was compared across six experimental conditions defined by the combination of temporal perspective and MS manipulations.

MS significantly increased prosocial behavior relative to control. Temporal perspective moderated this effect: Linear priming amplified MS-induced prosociality, whereas cyclical priming attenuated the effect to non-significance. Control group showed moderate MS effects. Critically, a significant interaction emerged between temporal perspective and MS in predicting prosocial behavior.

The findings reconcile previous inconsistencies by demonstrating temporal perspective's critical moderating role. Linear temporal perspective strengthens MS effects through enhanced existential threat awareness, while cyclical temporal perspective helps individuals avoid the awareness of mortality's inevitability via natural cycle conceptualizations. This suggests temporal cognition interventions could modulate prosocial outcomes in death-related contexts, with implications for terror management applications in social behavior modification.