Life is good, but death ain’t bad either: Counter-intuitive implicit biases to death in a normative population

Résumé

The current study explored implicit attitudes to life and death in a student population using both the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP). The IAT was similar to one used in previously published researched in the context of the prospective prediction of suicide and self-harm. Two IRAPs were employed, one that assessed relational responses specific to death and life with respect to self, and a second that assessed relational responses specific to evaluations of death and life. The IAT replicated previous results found in normative populations. The IRAPs indicated “prolife” biases, as expected. However, they also failed to demonstrate the presence of strong “antideath” biases, and in one case a specific “death–positive” bias was found. The results observed on the explicit measures did not readily explain the absent or “prodeath” effects observed on the IRAPs. Indeed, participants reported a normative level of anxiety and fear of death. Implications for the study of implicit attitudes to death using the IRAP are considered. CONCEPT-MORT ATTITUDE VIE-APRÈS-MORT CROYANCE SONDAGE DÉSIR-MORT PEUR-MORT