Registered Replication Report: Study 3 From Trafimow and Hughes (2012)

Sean C. Rife; Quinn Lambert; Robert Calin-Jageman; Matúš Adamkovič; Gabriel Banik; Itxaso Barberia; Jennifer Beaudry; Hanna Bernauer; Dustin Calvillo; William J. Chopik; Louise David; Ismay de Beijer; Thomas Rhys Evans; Andree Hartanto; Pavol Kačmár; Nicole Legate; Marcel Martončik; Karlijn Massar; Simon McCabe; David Moreau; Şevval Osmanoğlu; Asil Ali Özdoğru; Miriam Panning; Maximilian Primbs; John Protzko; Javier Rodríguez-Ferreiro; Jan P. Röer; Ivan Ropovik; Simon Schindler; Willem Sleegers; Gill ten Hoor; Ulrich S. Tran; Hein van Schie; Martin Voracek; Brady Wiggins

doi:10.1177/25152459251328334

Registered Replication Report: Study 3 From Trafimow and Hughes (2012)

Sean C. Rife^*, Quinn Lambert, Robert Calin-Jageman, Matúš Adamkovič, Gabriel Banik, Itxaso Barberia, Jennifer Beaudry, Hanna Bernauer, Dustin Calvillo, William J. Chopik, Louise David, Ismay de Beijer, Thomas Rhys Evans, Andree Hartanto, Pavol Kačmár, Nicole Legate, Marcel Martončik, Karlijn Massar, Simon McCabe, David MoreauŞevval Osmanoğlu, Asil Ali Özdoğru, Miriam Panning, Maximilian Primbs, John Protzko, Javier Rodríguez-Ferreiro, Jan P. Röer, Ivan Ropovik, Simon Schindler, Willem Sleegers, Gill ten Hoor, Ulrich S. Tran, Hein van Schie, Martin Voracek, Brady Wiggins

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Registered Report › peer-review

Abstract

Terror-management theory (TMT) proposes that when people are made aware of their own death, they are more likely to endorse cultural values. TMT is a staple of social psychology, featured prominently in textbooks and the subject of much research. The implications associated with TMT are significant because its advocates claim it can partially explain cultural conflicts, intergroup antagonisms, and even war. However, considerable ambiguity regarding effect size exists, and no preregistered replication of death-thought-accessibility findings exists. Moreover, there is debate regarding the role of time delay between the manipulation of mortality salience and assessment of key measures. We present results from 22 labs in 11 countries (total N = 3,447) attempting to replicate and extend an existing study of TMT, Study 3 from Trafimow and Hughes, and the role of time-delay effects. We successfully replicate Trafimow and Hughes and demonstrate that it is possible to prime death-related thoughts and that priming is more effective when there is no delay between the priming and outcome measure. Implications for future research and TMT are discussed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-20
Number of pages	20
Journal	Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science
Volume	8
Issue number	2
Early online date	22 Apr 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/25152459251328334
Publication status	Published - Apr 2025

Bibliographical note

Copyright © The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

Keywords

death-thought accessibility
open data
replication
terror-management theory
preregistered
preregistration
open materials

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10.1177/25152459251328334Licence: CC BY-NC 4.0

rife-et-al-2025-registered-replication-report-study-3-from-trafimow-and-hughes-(2012)
Copyright © The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Final published version, 2 MBLicence: CC BY-NC 4.0

Cite this

Rife, S. C., Lambert, Q., Calin-Jageman, R., Adamkovič, M., Banik, G., Barberia, I., Beaudry, J., Bernauer, H., Calvillo, D., Chopik, W. J., David, L., de Beijer, I., Evans, T. R., Hartanto, A., Kačmár, P., Legate, N., Martončik, M., Massar, K., McCabe, S., ... Wiggins, B. (2025). Registered Replication Report: Study 3 From Trafimow and Hughes (2012). Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 8(2), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1177/25152459251328334

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abstract = "Terror-management theory (TMT) proposes that when people are made aware of their own death, they are more likely to endorse cultural values. TMT is a staple of social psychology, featured prominently in textbooks and the subject of much research. The implications associated with TMT are significant because its advocates claim it can partially explain cultural conflicts, intergroup antagonisms, and even war. However, considerable ambiguity regarding effect size exists, and no preregistered replication of death-thought-accessibility findings exists. Moreover, there is debate regarding the role of time delay between the manipulation of mortality salience and assessment of key measures. We present results from 22 labs in 11 countries (total N = 3,447) attempting to replicate and extend an existing study of TMT, Study 3 from Trafimow and Hughes, and the role of time-delay effects. We successfully replicate Trafimow and Hughes and demonstrate that it is possible to prime death-related thoughts and that priming is more effective when there is no delay between the priming and outcome measure. Implications for future research and TMT are discussed.",

keywords = "death-thought accessibility, open data, replication, terror-management theory, preregistered, preregistration, open materials",

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note = "Copyright {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).",

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Rife, SC, Lambert, Q, Calin-Jageman, R, Adamkovič, M, Banik, G, Barberia, I, Beaudry, J, Bernauer, H, Calvillo, D, Chopik, WJ, David, L, de Beijer, I, Evans, TR, Hartanto, A, Kačmár, P, Legate, N, Martončik, M, Massar, K, McCabe, S, Moreau, D, Osmanoğlu, Ş, Özdoğru, AA, Panning, M, Primbs, M, Protzko, J, Rodríguez-Ferreiro, J, Röer, JP, Ropovik, I, Schindler, S, Sleegers, W, ten Hoor, G, Tran, US, van Schie, H, Voracek, M & Wiggins, B 2025, 'Registered Replication Report: Study 3 From Trafimow and Hughes (2012)', Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1177/25152459251328334

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AU - Rife, Sean C.

AU - Lambert, Quinn

AU - Calin-Jageman, Robert

AU - Adamkovič, Matúš

AU - Banik, Gabriel

AU - Barberia, Itxaso

AU - Beaudry, Jennifer

AU - Bernauer, Hanna

AU - Calvillo, Dustin

AU - Chopik, William J.

AU - David, Louise

AU - de Beijer, Ismay

AU - Evans, Thomas Rhys

AU - Hartanto, Andree

AU - Kačmár, Pavol

AU - Legate, Nicole

AU - Martončik, Marcel

AU - Massar, Karlijn

AU - McCabe, Simon

AU - Moreau, David

AU - Osmanoğlu, Şevval

AU - Özdoğru, Asil Ali

AU - Panning, Miriam

AU - Primbs, Maximilian

AU - Protzko, John

AU - Rodríguez-Ferreiro, Javier

AU - Röer, Jan P.

AU - Ropovik, Ivan

AU - Schindler, Simon

AU - Sleegers, Willem

AU - ten Hoor, Gill

AU - Tran, Ulrich S.

AU - van Schie, Hein

AU - Voracek, Martin

AU - Wiggins, Brady

N1 - Copyright © The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

PY - 2025/4

Y1 - 2025/4

N2 - Terror-management theory (TMT) proposes that when people are made aware of their own death, they are more likely to endorse cultural values. TMT is a staple of social psychology, featured prominently in textbooks and the subject of much research. The implications associated with TMT are significant because its advocates claim it can partially explain cultural conflicts, intergroup antagonisms, and even war. However, considerable ambiguity regarding effect size exists, and no preregistered replication of death-thought-accessibility findings exists. Moreover, there is debate regarding the role of time delay between the manipulation of mortality salience and assessment of key measures. We present results from 22 labs in 11 countries (total N = 3,447) attempting to replicate and extend an existing study of TMT, Study 3 from Trafimow and Hughes, and the role of time-delay effects. We successfully replicate Trafimow and Hughes and demonstrate that it is possible to prime death-related thoughts and that priming is more effective when there is no delay between the priming and outcome measure. Implications for future research and TMT are discussed.

AB - Terror-management theory (TMT) proposes that when people are made aware of their own death, they are more likely to endorse cultural values. TMT is a staple of social psychology, featured prominently in textbooks and the subject of much research. The implications associated with TMT are significant because its advocates claim it can partially explain cultural conflicts, intergroup antagonisms, and even war. However, considerable ambiguity regarding effect size exists, and no preregistered replication of death-thought-accessibility findings exists. Moreover, there is debate regarding the role of time delay between the manipulation of mortality salience and assessment of key measures. We present results from 22 labs in 11 countries (total N = 3,447) attempting to replicate and extend an existing study of TMT, Study 3 from Trafimow and Hughes, and the role of time-delay effects. We successfully replicate Trafimow and Hughes and demonstrate that it is possible to prime death-related thoughts and that priming is more effective when there is no delay between the priming and outcome measure. Implications for future research and TMT are discussed.

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KW - open data

KW - replication

KW - terror-management theory

KW - preregistered

KW - preregistration

KW - open materials

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U2 - 10.1177/25152459251328334

DO - 10.1177/25152459251328334

M3 - Registered Report

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JO - Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science

JF - Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science

IS - 2

ER -

Registered Replication Report: Study 3 From Trafimow and Hughes (2012)

Abstract

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Keywords

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