Mortality salience manipulation

Mortality salience manipulation is a research method used to activate individuals' awareness of their own death. By prompting people to think about or reflect on their mortality—often through writing tasks or questions—researchers examine how this awareness influences their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The goal is to understand how humans cope with mortality and how this awareness impacts attitudes, decision-making, or cultural beliefs. This technique is commonly used in social psychology to explore phenomena such as cultural worldview defense, risk perception, and personal motivation in response to the existential reminder of mortality.