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Money and the fear of death: The symbolic power of money as an existential anxiety buffer

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  • Zaleskiewicz, Tomasz
  • Gasiorowska, Agata
  • Kesebir, Pelin
  • Luszczynska, Aleksandra
  • Pyszczynski, Tom

Abstract

According to terror management theory, people deal with the potential for anxiety that results from their knowledge of the inevitability of death by holding on to sources of value that exist within their cultural worldview. We propose that money is one such source capable of soothing existential anxiety. We hypothesize that death anxiety would amplify the value attributed to money, and that the presence of money would alleviate death anxiety. Study 1 indicated that individuals reminded of their mortality overestimated the size of coins and monetary notes. In Study 2, participants induced to think about their mortality used higher monetary standards to define a person or family as rich than those in the control condition. Study 3 revealed that people reminded of death desired higher compensation for waiving the immediate payment of money. Finally, Study 4 showed that priming participants with the concept of money reduced self-reported fear of death. We conclude that, beyond its pragmatic utility, money possesses a strong psychological meaning that helps to buffer existential anxiety.

Suggested Citation

  • Zaleskiewicz, Tomasz & Gasiorowska, Agata & Kesebir, Pelin & Luszczynska, Aleksandra & Pyszczynski, Tom, 2013. "Money and the fear of death: The symbolic power of money as an existential anxiety buffer," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 55-67.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:36:y:2013:i:c:p:55-67
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2013.02.008
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    8. S. Venus Jin & Ehri Ryu, 2022. "“The greedy I that gives”—The paradox of egocentrism and altruism: Terror management and system justification perspectives on the interrelationship between mortality salience and charitable donations ," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 414-448, March.
    9. Maria A. Maricheva & Vadim A. Petrovsky, 2024. "The Value Of Choice And Non-Choice As A Psychological Characteristic Of Money," HSE Working papers WP BRP 139/PSY/2024, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
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    11. Huang, Xin & Li, Zhiyi, 2025. "Hunger for money: Early-life hunger experiences increase individual's desire for money," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 115(C).

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