華人面對自己或重要他人死亡威脅之後續因應

人類擁有因應死亡威脅的辦法，源於西方的恐懼管理理論認為人們以文化世界觀防禦的方式應對死亡威脅。而華人在面對死亡威脅時是否出現文化世界觀防禦的傾向，在過去的研究中得到不一致的結果。目前也少有研究探討重視關係的華人如何因應重要他人的死亡威脅。本文通過兩個研究了解華人如何因應自己或重要他人的死亡威脅。研究一採用3（實驗操弄：自己死亡威脅凸顯、重要他人死亡威脅凸顯或自己疼痛凸顯）x 2（評論類別：讚美或批評）的組間設計，119名參與者隨機分派至不同實驗情境。依變項為參與者對評論的評價，以此了解參與者維護華人重要文化的程度。結果顯示經歷重要他人死亡威脅凸顯的參與者有明顯的維護華人重要文化傾向，且這種傾向高於經歷自己死亡威脅凸顯的參與者。研究二從享受生活、維繫重要人際關係和行善積德三類行為，了解華人在經歷自己或重要他人的死亡威脅凸顯後不同的因應方式。60名參與者分派至不同的實驗情境，實驗採用3（實驗操弄：自己死亡威脅凸顯、重要他人死亡威脅凸顯或自己疼痛凸顯）x 3（行為類別：享受生活、維繫重要人際關係或行善積德）的混合設計，其中實驗操弄為組間變項，行為類別為組內變項，依變項為參與者從事各類行為的意願程度。結果主要發現被凸顯重要他人死亡的參與者有更低程度的行善積德意願。

關鍵字

死亡威脅凸顯；華人文化；重要他人；恐懼管理理論

並列摘要

Terror Management Theory originated from the West which proposes that people manage their terror of death by defending their own cultural worldview. The present research employed two studies to examine how Chinese people manage the death-related anxiety of themselves and from their significant others. In Study 1, 119 participants were randomly assigned to a 3 (Manipulation: self mortality salience, mortality salience of significant other, or self toothache) x 2 (Comment of Chinese Culture: Praise or Criticism) factorial design. The dependent measure was how well an individual is defending the cultural values. The results indicated that participants who experienced the mortality salience of significant other had a significant tendency to defend the Chinese cultural values, and this tendency is higher than participants who experienced self mortality salience. In Study 2, we explored how Chinese people cope with the mortality salience by employing three types of behavior: enjoy life, maintaining important interpersonal relationships and doing good deeds. 60 Participants were randomly assigned to a 3 (Manipulation: self mortality salience, mortality salience of significant other, or self toothache) x 3 (behavior type: enjoy life, maintaining important interpersonal relationships or doing good deeds) mixed design. The experimental manipulation was a between-subjects variable, the behavioral type was a within-subjects variable, and the dependent variable was the participant’s degree of willingness to engage in different types behavior. As a result, it was found that participants who experienced the mortality salience of significant other were significantly less willing to do good deeds. These implications were also discussed.