Fame is forever – or is it? Presenting fame as fleeting increases vulnerability to death related worries.
Kelly Berg, Ashleigh Cooper, Destiny Ford
Terror Management Theory (TMT; Pyszczynski, et al., 2015) suggests that people are motivated to seek a sense of immortality in order to ease anxiety surrounding death. If the attraction of fame and the appeal of celebrities lie in the ability to achieve a means of symbolic immortality, then pointing out how fame is not permanent should leave people vulnerable to more worries about death. The present research examines how concerns about death might be increased when confronted with the idea that fame is fleeting and not everlasting. Students in introductory psychology courses at Lander University read an essay either arguing that fame is long-lasting or short-lived prior to completing a word fragment completion task to measure the prevalence of death related thoughts. Data analysis is ongoing, but participants in the fleeting fame condition are expected to have more death thoughts than those in the enduring fame condition.
Kelly Berg is a senior psychology major from Campobello, South Carolina. She has a double minor in healthcare management and human services. While at Lander University, she has been a part of the Psi Chi honor society and a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority where she served as the Administrative Vice President for the 2021 calendar year. This is her second semester being a part of Dr. Bassett’s research team. After graduation she plans to attend graduate school to pursue her career goal of getting her LMSW and becoming a case manager in the medical field.
Ashleigh Cooper is a senior psychology major from Charleston, South Carolina. She has a minor in healthcare management. She is a member of the Psi Chi honors society and the Order of Omega, an all-Greek honors society. This is her second semester on Dr. Bassett’s research team. She plans to pursue graduate school in social work.
Destiny Ford is a junior psychology major from Graniteville, South Carolina. She has a minor in child and family studies. She is graduating early with her BS in psychology in December and she plans to pursue a master’s degree in counseling, specifically with a focus on children. She is a member of the Human services club, has served as a tutor, and has been involved as a LINK peer mentor. Currently, she is also involved with undergraduate research conducted with Dr. Bassett. She has a deep passion for helping children and families and works at an after-school program with children and loves it. In her free time, she loves watching sports, playing with her dog Bentley, and hanging out with her roommates.