DYING TO WORK: THE EFFECTS OF MORTALITY SALIENCE ON JOB ATTITUDES

Abstract

Death is the only certainty of life, but we know little about how it affects employees’ work attitudes and behaviors, though the work domain is a key part of our lives; this is even more so as mortality salience is experienced by everyone. To understand how death plays a role in organizational behavior, I utilize terror management theory and argue that mortality salience affects how employees think and act towards work. This dissertation examines how mortality salience influences several key organizational attitudes via triggering psychological needs, and its potential moderators using one online experiment. I then discuss the implications of my findings for theory, practice, and future research on death in organizations.