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Specific and Individuated Death Reflection Fosters Identity Integration

Identity integration is the process wherein a person assimilates multiple or conflicting identities (e.g., beliefs, values, needs) into a coherent, unified self-concept. Three experiments examined whether contemplating mortality in a specific and individuated manner (i.e., via the death reflection m...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Blackie, Laura E. R., Cozzolino, Philip J., Sedikides, Constantine
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4859554/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27152863
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0154873
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author Blackie, Laura E. R.
Cozzolino, Philip J.
Sedikides, Constantine
author_facet Blackie, Laura E. R.
Cozzolino, Philip J.
Sedikides, Constantine
author_sort Blackie, Laura E. R.
collection PubMed
description Identity integration is the process wherein a person assimilates multiple or conflicting identities (e.g., beliefs, values, needs) into a coherent, unified self-concept. Three experiments examined whether contemplating mortality in a specific and individuated manner (i.e., via the death reflection manipulation) facilitated outcomes indicative of identity integration. Participants in the death reflection condition (vs. control conditions) considered positive and negative life experiences as equally important in shaping their current identity (Experiment 1), regarded self-serving values and other-serving values as equally important life principles (Experiment 2), and were equally motivated to pursue growth-oriented and security-oriented needs (Experiment 3). Death reflection motivates individuals to integrate conflicting aspects of their identity into a coherent self-concept. Given that identity integration is associated with higher well-being, the findings have implications for understanding the psychological benefits of existential contemplation.
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spelling pubmed-48595542016-05-13 Specific and Individuated Death Reflection Fosters Identity Integration Blackie, Laura E. R. Cozzolino, Philip J. Sedikides, Constantine PLoS One Research Article Identity integration is the process wherein a person assimilates multiple or conflicting identities (e.g., beliefs, values, needs) into a coherent, unified self-concept. Three experiments examined whether contemplating mortality in a specific and individuated manner (i.e., via the death reflection manipulation) facilitated outcomes indicative of identity integration. Participants in the death reflection condition (vs. control conditions) considered positive and negative life experiences as equally important in shaping their current identity (Experiment 1), regarded self-serving values and other-serving values as equally important life principles (Experiment 2), and were equally motivated to pursue growth-oriented and security-oriented needs (Experiment 3). Death reflection motivates individuals to integrate conflicting aspects of their identity into a coherent self-concept. Given that identity integration is associated with higher well-being, the findings have implications for understanding the psychological benefits of existential contemplation. Public Library of Science 2016-05-06 /pmc/articles/PMC4859554/ /pubmed/27152863 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0154873 Text en © 2016 Blackie et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Blackie, Laura E. R.
Cozzolino, Philip J.
Sedikides, Constantine
Specific and Individuated Death Reflection Fosters Identity Integration
title Specific and Individuated Death Reflection Fosters Identity Integration
title_full Specific and Individuated Death Reflection Fosters Identity Integration
title_fullStr Specific and Individuated Death Reflection Fosters Identity Integration
title_full_unstemmed Specific and Individuated Death Reflection Fosters Identity Integration
title_short Specific and Individuated Death Reflection Fosters Identity Integration
title_sort specific and individuated death reflection fosters identity integration
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4859554/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27152863
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0154873
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