Exploring Mortality Salience and Pandemic Impact in the Context of COVID-19

Abstract

Mortality salience refers to a state of conscious awareness of death and the inevitable conclusion of life, associated with psychological terror. The COVID-19 pandemic generated increased awareness of illness and death, and effectuated changes in death cognitions and people’s experiences around psychological or sociocognitive domains of media and life goals. To understand these changes, this study administered the Multidimensional Mortality Awareness Measure (Levasseur et al., 2015) to 103 emerging adults in India, post which 6 participants proceeded for a semi-structured interview exploring pandemic experiences, news consumption and goal prioritization, to examine specific areas in relation to death cognition. The thematic analysis demonstrates psychological effects, and discusses developments in health and death-related psychological processes. Focus on career goals and health maintenance, cautious news consumption and disadvantageous impacts on mental health are seen, significant in navigating healthcare measures for emerging adults, as we move forward into this ‘new normal’.