Despite vital contributions from psychological research, there remain considerable gaps in understanding why individuals engage in behavior that puts their health at risk. However, much of the research literature reveals that health decisions can be influenced by individuals'motivations pertaining to health as well as their motivations to maintain a sense of self-value. Further insights into effective interventions may be gained by considering factors that influence both sources of motivation. In this light an increasing amount of social psychological research shows that both sets of motives can be triggered by conscious and unconscious thoughts of death. Yet this framework has only recently been applied to behavioral health as research indicates that health threats such as cancer can activate concerns about mortality. The proposed research seeks to refine and extend understanding of the interface between mortality concerns and cancer relevant preventative behavior by investigating three central issues.
Aim 1 is to examine the effectiveness of targeting health-oriented motivations in the context of health communications that explicitly activate thoughts of death.
Aim 2 will examine the effectiveness of targeting self-oriented motivations in the context of health communications that implicitly activate thoughts of death.
Aim 3 tests mechanisms by which these interventions can have enduring effects. The broad intention of the proposed project is thus to continue to reveal how concerns about death influence core psychological processes in a number of cancer-relevant areas, with the ultimate goal of reducing cancer rates by providing translational suggestions for more effective interventions.

Public Health Relevance

The broad intention of the proposed project is to continue to reveal how concerns about death influence core psychological processes in cancer-relevant areas, with the ultimate goal of reducing cancer rates by providing translational insights for more effective interventions.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01CA096581-07
Application #
7858337
Study Section
Social Psychology, Personality and Interpersonal Processes Study Section (SPIP)
Program Officer
Nelson, Wendy
Project Start
2002-06-01
Project End
2014-04-30
Budget Start
2010-05-01
Budget End
2011-04-30
Support Year
7
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$276,118
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Missouri-Columbia
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
153890272
City
Columbia
State
MO
Country
United States
Zip Code
65211
Arndt, Jamie; Goldenberg, Jamie L (2017) Where Health and Death Intersect: Insights from a Terror Management Health Model. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 26:126-131
Morris, Kasey Lynn; Cooper, Douglas P; Goldenberg, Jamie L et al. (2014) Improving the efficacy of appearance-based sun exposure interventions with the terror management health model. Psychol Health 29:1245-64
Arndt, Jamie; Das, Enny; Schagen, Sanne B et al. (2014) Broadening the cancer and cognition landscape: the role of self-regulatory challenges. Psychooncology 23:1-8
Cox, Cathy R; Reid-Arndt, Stephanie A; Arndt, Jamie et al. (2012) Considering the unspoken: the role of death cognition in quality of life among women with and without breast cancer. J Psychosoc Oncol 30:128-39
Vess, Matthew; Arndt, Jamie; Cox, Cathy R et al. (2009) Exploring the existential function of religion: the effect of religious fundamentalism and mortality salience on faith-based medical refusals. J Pers Soc Psychol 97:334-50
Goldenberg, Jamie L; Routledge, Clay; Arndt, Jamie (2009) Mammograms and the management of existential discomfort: threats associated with the physicality of the body and neuroticism. Psychol Health 24:563-81
Goldenberg, Jamie L; Arndt, Jamie (2008) The implications of death for health: a terror management health model for behavioral health promotion. Psychol Rev 115:1032-53
Goldenberg, Jamie L; Arndt, Jamie; Hart, Joshua et al. (2008) Uncovering an Existential Barrier to Breast Self-exam Behavior. J Exp Soc Psychol 44:260-274
Arndt, Jamie; Cook, Alison; Goldenberg, Jamie L et al. (2007) Cancer and the threat of death: the cognitive dynamics of death-thought suppression and its impact on behavioral health intentions. J Pers Soc Psychol 92:12-29
Goldenberg, Jamie L; Arndt, Jamie; Hart, Joshua et al. (2005) Dying to be thin: the effects of mortality salience and body mass index on restricted eating among women. Pers Soc Psychol Bull 31:1400-12

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