It is our destiny to die: The effects of mortality salience and culture-priming on fatalism and karma belief

The current study explores whether Asians use culture-specific belief systems to defend against their death anxiety. The effects of mortality salience (MS) and cultural priming on Taiwanese beliefs in fatalism and karma were investigated. Study 1 showed that people believe in fatalism and karma more following MS compared with the control condition. Study 2 found that the effect of MS on fatalism belief was stronger when Taiwanese were exposed to an Eastern cultural context than to a Western cultural context. However, a matched sample of Western participants did not show increased fatalism belief after either a West- or East-prime task. The present research provides evidence that Asians may use some culture-specific beliefs, particularly fatalism belief, to cope with their death awareness.