Beyond sorrow and terror management Theories: A dual-emotion model of death reflection after mortality salience across cultures and time

Abstract

Confronting mortality fundamentally shapes long-term mental health and overall well-being. However, existing research has largely overlooked how the effects of mortality salience (MS)—the awareness of one's own inevitable death— vary with different cultural values and prolonged death reflection. This paper introduces a novel dual-emotion model, grounded in Terror Management Theory (TMT) and Sorrow Management Theory (SMT), that explicitly incorporates both cultural and temporal dimensions. The model posits that MS triggers two primary emotional responses: an immediate fear of self-annihilation and a sustained sadness over relational loss—with the latter being particularly pronounced in collectivist cultures. While fear fuels initial defensiveness, prolonged contemplation of mortality gives rise to sadness, which in turn fosters meaning-making and strengthens relational bonds. By integrating cross-cultural and temporal dynamics, this framework refines our understanding of MS in existential psychology and challenges universalist assumptions in death anxiety research. Moreover, the paper advocates employing computational modeling to unravel the dynamic interplay among multiple factors—including personal values, self-esteem, and intimate relationships—across diverse cultural contexts, ultimately paving the way for personalized interventions in death education, suicide prevention, end-of-life care, and grief therapy.