For a certain type of intellectual mediocrity characterized by enlightened rationalism, a scientific theory that simplifies matters is a very good means of defence because of the tremendous faith modern man has in anything which bears the label “scientific.”
— C.G. Jung, “Psychology and Religion”
Bronze is Beautiful, but Pale Can Be Pretty…
“Bronze is beautiful but pale can be pretty: The effects of appearance standards and mortality salience on sun-tanning outcomes”
By: Cox, Cathy R.; Cooper, Douglas P.; Vess, Matthew; Arndt, Jamie; Goldenberg, Jamie L.; Routledge, Clay
From Health Psychology, Vol. 27, Iss. 4
Objective: Using the terror management health model (J. L. Goldenberg & J. Arndt, 2008), the authors examined tanning outcomes as a function of priming tanning-relevant standards for attractiveness after reminders of death.
Design: Study 1 consisted of 101 female college students recruited from a midwestern university; Study 2 consisted of 53 female participants recruited from a beach in south Florida. In both experiments, participants answered questions about their mortality or a control topic, and were presented with a fashion article that highlighted either the attractiveness of tanned (just in Study 1), pale, or natural-looking skin.
Main Outcome Measures: Self-reported suntan intentions (Study 1) and sunscreen intentions (Study 2). Study 2 also assessed participants’ interest in various sun protection products.
Results and Conclusions: Study 1 demonstrated that mortality salience led to higher tanning intentions when the association between tanned skin and physical attractiveness was made salient and reduced intentions when the attractiveness of paler skin was highlighted. In Study 2, beachgoers, after reminders of death, reported greater preference for high sun protection sunscreen after reading an article about the attractiveness of paler skin tones. These findings contribute to an emerging understanding of how mortality concerns can influence health-related judgment and behavior.
(PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)
First, I think this article reminds us of the importance of a good title… I know I read this mostly because I loved the title. Second… well, I continue to find it frustrating that articles with such short-term outcomes are assessed. Perhaps the research was aimed at simply demonstrating the potential of terror management theory for practical applications and shaping behavior. But shouldn’t we require slightly more impressive results before getting excited? Shouldn’t we want to make sure that they not only reported a preference for and intentions to use sunscreen? After all, I think it would be rather difficult to find a large group of people who would “be reminded of their own mortality” and reminded about skin cancer by a stranger who then admit that they don’t want to or won’t wear sunscreen. But maybe I overestimate the intelligence of the general population yet again…
