A seminar «Avoidance motivation underlies mortality salience effects on cultural closed-mindedness: Neural and mediational evidence»

Abstract

Abundant evidence supports the terror management theory (TMT) hypothesis that people respond to mortality salience (MS) with increased cultural closed-mindedness. However, there is surprisingly little insight into the motivational dynamics underlying this effect. According to recent neuropsychological theorizing, basic avoidance motivational processes should mediate MS effects on aversion to cultural otherness. This should be especially true for persons with high dispositional avoidance motivation, as reflected in high need for closure (NFC). These hypotheses were tested in two studies, operationalizing avoidance motivation as right prefrontal brain activation, as measured by the line bisection task (Study 1) and EEG (Study 2). In Study 1, persons with high NFC responded to mortality reminders with increased aversion to cultural otherness. This effect was fully mediated by leftward bisection bias, which indicates right prefrontal brain activation and avoidance motivation. In Study 2, the MS effect on right prefrontal activation was replicated using EEG alpha asymmetry as a more direct measure of brain activity. In both studies, persons with low NFC showed the opposite pattern to high NFC individuals, that is, reduced avoidance (or increased approach) motivation following MS. The results are discussed in terms of the core motivational duality between self-preservation (defense) and self-expansion (growth).

Date: 21.08.14
Time: 15:00
Address: Volgogradsky Prosp., 46B
Room: 114

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