• Matthew T Gailliot, Brandon J Schmeichel, and Roy F Baumeister.
• Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1270, USA. gailliot@psy.fsu.edu
• J Pers Soc Psychol. 2006 Jul 1; 91 (1): 49-62.

AbstractNine studies (N = 979) demonstrated that managing the threat of death requires self-regulation. Both trait and state self-control ability moderated the degree to which people experienced death-related thought and anxiety. Participants high (vs. low) in self-control generated fewer death-related thoughts after being primed with death, reported less death anxiety, were less likely to perceive death-related themes in ambiguous scenes, and reacted with less worldview defense when mortality was made salient. Further, coping with thoughts of death led to self-regulatory fatigue. After writing about death versus a control topic, participants performed worse on several measures of self-regulation that were irrelevant to death. These results suggest that self-regulation is a key intrapsychic mechanism for alleviating troublesome thoughts and feelings about mortality.Copyright 2006 APA, all rights reserved.

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