Registered Replication Report: Study 3 From Trafimow and Hughes (2012)

Abstract

Terror-management theory (TMT) proposes that when people are made aware of their own death, they are more likely to endorse cultural values. TMT is a staple of social psychology, featured prominently in textbooks and the subject of much research. The implications associated with TMT are significant because its advocates claim it can partially explain cultural conflicts, intergroup antagonisms, and even war. However, considerable ambiguity regarding effect size exists, and no preregistered replication of death-thought-accessibility findings exists. Moreover, there is debate regarding the role of time delay between the manipulation of mortality salience and assessment of key measures. We present results from 22 labs in 11 countries (total N = 3,447) attempting to replicate and extend an existing study of TMT, Study 3 from Trafimow and Hughes, and the role of time-delay effects. We successfully replicate Trafimow and Hughes and demonstrate that it is possible to prime death-related thoughts and that priming is more effective when there is no delay between the priming and outcome measure. Implications for future research and TMT are discussed.