The effect of mortality salience on fertility intentions from the perspective of terror management theory

Research on Terror Management Theory (TMT) suggests that mortality salience (MS) motivates individuals to pursue symbolic and biological immortality, with offspring serving as a potential buffer against death anxiety. However, it remains unclear whether and how MS influences fertility intentions. Based on TMT, this study aims to investigate whether MS enhances individuals' fertility intentions and to examine one proposed mechanism by which reproductive cognition may buffer death anxiety. Three experimental studies were conducted, combining behavioral experiments, questionnaire surveys, and priming paradigms. Participants included general adults and individuals with chronic illnesses. Measurement tools included image response time, fertility intention scales, death-thought accessibility tasks, and cultural worldview defense assessments. Studies 1a and 1b showed that MS (vs. control) led to longer response times to parent–child images, more favorable evaluations of fertility policies, and increased fertility intentions. Study 2 revealed that child priming attenuated the MS-induced increase in death-related thoughts, suggesting that fertility-related cognitions serve as a distal defense against existential anxiety. Study 3 found that among chronically ill individuals, MS led to higher death-thought accessibility and stronger fertility intentions, indicating that the MS effect is amplified in health-vulnerable populations. Together, these findings provide converging evidence consistent with the proposal that fertility-related cognition serves as a distal defense, although the full mediational pathway from MS to DTA to fertility intentions was not directly tested. The results offer a novel framework for understanding low fertility rates, and provide insights for population policy and life education interventions.