Conscious death thoughts favor expert advice while unconscious ones favor celebrities.
Evidence
In another study demonstrating the difference between proximal and distal defenses, after thinking about death or failure, participants read one of two advertisements for “H2O,” a new bottled water: one featuring the endorsement of Dr. Jane Watson and one by actress Jennifer Aniston. Participants who read the ad immediately after thinking about death rated H2O more favorably and drank more of it if it was endorsed by Dr. Watson. When death is still on our minds, we do what’s best for our health by listening to the medical expert. However, other participants who read a short story after thinking about death and before seeing the H2O ad found Jennifer Aniston more persuasive. They liked the water better and drank more of it if Jen endorsed it. With death on the fringes of consciousness, we want to do what’s trendy by emulating the rich and famous. — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 660
Categorization
- XREF: Directly extends the proximal/distal distinction already built across earlier chapters of this same book, giving concrete experimental evidence for the two modes.