R O T E M P E R A C H

A R N A UD W I S M A N

Can Creativity Beat Death? A Review and Evidence on

the Existential Anxiety Buffering Functions of Creative
Achievement

ABSTRACT
The relationship between creativity and symbolic immortality had been long acknowledged by scholars.
In a review of the literature, we found 12 papers that empirically examined the relationship between creativ-
ity and mortality awareness using a Terror Management Theory paradigm, overall supporting the notion
that creativity plays an important role in the management of existential concerns. Also, a mini meta-analysis
of the impact of death awareness on creativity resulted in a small-medium weighted mean effect. We exam-
ined the existential anxiety buffering functions of creative achievement as assessed by the Creative Achieve-
ment Questionnaire in a sample of 108 students. It was found that at high, but not low, levels of creative
goals, creative achievement was associated with lower death-thought accessibility under mortality salience in
comparison to controls. To our knowledge, this is the first empirical report of the anxiety buffering func-
tions of creative achievement among people for whom creativity constitutes a central part of their cultural
worldview. The current findings support the notion that creative achievement may be an avenue for sym-
bolic immortality, particularly among individuals who value creativity. Implications for understanding
death-related creativity motivations and their impact on individuals and society and for the promotion of
creative achievement and creative motivation are discussed.
Keywords: creativity, creative achievement, symbolic immortality, terror management theory, meta-analysis.

When I’m gone you will remember my name

I’m gonna win my way to wealth and fame.
(Bob Dylan)
Creativity has been defined as “the achievement of something remarkable and new, something which
transforms a field of endeavor in a significant way” (Feldman, Csikszentmihalyi, & Gardner, 1994, p. 2). A
sense of immortality has been referred to as representing one’s desire to maintain “an inner sense of contin-
uous symbolic relationship, over time and space, with the various elements of life” (Lifton, 1973, p. 5). The
relationship between creativity and symbolic immortality has been discussed by various prominent scholars.
Rank (1968) and Becker (1973) considered the creative action to be a key route to individuation and unique
self-expression and as an avenue for immortality, and Yalom (1980) referred to role of leaving behind an
imperishable legacy in assuaging death concerns. Similarly, Lifton (1973, 1979) proposed the mode of cre-
ativity as a path for attaining symbolic immortality. On a similar vein, self-actualization and openness to
experience, two constructs associated with creativity, have been proposed to reduce the terror of death
(Maslow, 1970; Rogers, 1980). In this article, we will review the evidence on the relationship between cre-
ativity and symbolic immortality and present novel findings on the anxiety buffering functions of creative
achievement.
The relationship between creativity and symbolic immortality is present in everyday life, as reflected in
anecdotal evidence. British fashion designer Alexander McQueen described spreading his designs “so that
when I’m dead and gone people will know that the 21st century was started by Alexander McQueen” (Vic-
toria and Albert Museum, 2015). Gyorgy Fauldy, the Hungarian poet and writer, when asked in his inter-
view by Csikszentmihalyi (1996) why he decided to become a poet replied “Because I was afraid to die”
(p. 38). Other examples highlight the existential impact of the destruction or denunciation of creative

The Journal of Creative Behavior, Vol. 0, Iss. 0, pp. 1–18 © 2016 by the Creative Education Foundation, Inc. Ó DOI: 10.1002/jocb.171 1
Can Creativity Beat Death?

achievements. In 2015, Islamic State militants destroyed multiple ancient monuments and artifacts in Iraqian
sites such as Nimrod and Mosul (Shaheen, 2015), evoking calls of condemnation from officials worldwide.
Finally, Yoshiki Sasai, a notable Japanese scientist in the field of stem-cell research who supervised and co-
authored research papers that were published in Nature suffered their subsequent retraction due to falsified
contents. Cutting short his long trajectory of creative achievement, Sasai was later found dead in an appar-
ent suicide (Nature News, 2014). These examples support the notion that creativity is linked to death and
its transcendence through the generation (or destruction) of enduring creative achievements.
The study of Big-C (eminent) creativity (Kaufman & Beghetto, 2009) focuses on creative genius and cre-
ative greatness by analyzing the lives and works of well-known creators (e.g., Anais Nin [Kehagia, 2009];
Frank Lloyd Wright [Weisberg, 2011]), interviewing renowned persons (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996), or studying
people who score high on creativity measures (Kaufman & Beghetto, 2009). These approaches have yielded
limited evidence in support of the relationship between creativity and symbolic immortality. For example, in
an observational study, the works of 172 classical composers were analyzed (Simonton, 1989). It was found
that composers’ last works were characterized by higher repertoire popularity and aesthetic significance and
lower melodic originality and performance duration. This effect persisted after controlling for variables such
as eminence, total composition output, and the composer’s age when composing the final works. According
to Simonton (1989), the melodic simplicity and conciseness of composers’ final works suggest that as com-
posers approached death, they became more invested in writing pieces that will secure their reputation over
time. In line with this, significant inverse correlations were found between self-reports of a biological-crea-
tive mode of symbolic immortality (representing the enduring existential benefits of procreation and pro-
ductivity) and fear of death (Florian & Mikulincer, 1998).

TERROR MANAGEMENT THEORY

One theory for studying the relationship between creativity and symbolic immortality is Terror Manage-
ment Theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986), an established theory in the field of social
psychology. Largely derived from the works of cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker (1971, 1973) and psy-
choanalyst Otto Rank (1941), TMT proposes that the awareness of death serves as a critical motivator of
human behavior. Human beings, like other organisms, are driven by a self-preservation instinct, yet they are
unique in their cognitive capacity to understand their finitude. The conflict between one’s mortality aware-
ness and survival goals creates an existential paradox, which may lead to experiencing severe anxiety, or ter-
ror. The theory maintains that in order to defend oneself from this potential terror, people invest in two
interrelated psychological structures. The first is a cultural worldview: a set of socially constructed and vali-
dated beliefs that provide meaning, order, a set of principles to live by, and the promise of either literal
(i.e., promise of an after-life) or symbolic immortality to socially valued individuals. The second death-anxi-
ety buffering structure is self-esteem. By living up to the standards of value prescribed by cultural world-
views or behaving in culturally valued manner, one achieves a high level of self-esteem. Consequently, as a
valuable contributor to something larger, more meaningful, and longer lasting than mere physical existence,
one gains the protection from mortality concerns offered by the culture. According to TMT, symbolic
immortality may be achieved via long-lasting creative achievements in art or science, perceiving oneself as
belonging to a culture extending beyond one’s lifetime, having children, and concrete testaments to one’s
existence such as impressive monuments or great wealth (Solomon, Greenberg, & Pyszczynski, 2004). Since
its inception, TMT has gained empirical support from hundreds of experiments worldwide (Landau, Sulli-
van, & Solomon, 2010; Pyszczynski, Solomon, & Greenberg, 2015).
TMT studies on creativity typically utilize the mortality salience (MS) hypothesis (Rosenblatt, Greenberg,
Solomon, Pyszczynski, & Lyon, 1989). The MS hypothesis states that if adhering to cultural worldviews and
self-esteem buffers mortality concerns, then making mortality salient should increase individuals’ need for
this symbolic protection, consequently motivating them to uphold, defend, and maintain their worldviews,
and strive for enhancing self-esteem. Indeed, mortality reminders have been found to produce various reac-
tions directed toward securing self-esteem and faith in one’s cultural worldview (e.g., increased upholding of
social values, nationalistic biases; for reviews, see Burke, Martens, & Faucher, 2010; Pyszczynski, Greenberg,
Solomon, Arndt, & Schimel, 2004). In a standard experimental design of MS studies, participants in the MS
condition complete a measure that prompts them to consider their own mortality while control participants
complete a parallel measure on a neutral or aversive topic (e.g., extreme pain). Additional details on varia-
tions in mortality inductions and in control conditions are available elsewhere (e.g., Hayes, Schimel, Arndt,
& Faucher, 2010; Landau et al., 2010).

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It has been proposed that creativity relates to death in various ways including through its death-denying
and life affirming properties (Abra, 1995). In providing an experimental paradigm for examining symbolic
mortality strivings, TMT enables the incorporation of empirical evidence into the extant literature on the
relationship between creativity and death. Nonetheless, TMT studies on creativity have not been previously
described as a whole. In order to promote our understanding of the relationship between creativity and
symbolic immortality, we will first examine empirical evidence on the relationship between creativity and
symbolic immortality from a TMT perspective.

CREATIVITY AND TERROR MANAGEMENT THEORY

Overall, we have identified 12 papers that examined the relationship between creativity and mortality
awareness using a TMT paradigm. Research thus far focused on four main lines of investigation, namely,
socio-cultural effects of creative performance following MS, the effects of MS on creative performance, the
effect of leaving a legacy on creative performance following MS, and the role of individual trait differences
in moderating the effect of MS on creative performance or creative interest. These are presented in detail
below. The characteristics of the 12 papers and their findings on the link between death awareness and cre-
ativity are presented in Table 1.

The socio-cultural effects of creative performance following MS

Four papers examined the effects of creative performance following MS on social and cultural constructs.
Specifically, creative performance following MS has been found to increase assimilation needs (Arndt, Rout-
ledge, Greenberg, & Sheldon, 2005), guilt and social projection (Arndt, Greenberg, Solomon, Pyszczynski, &
Schimel, 1999), and worldview exploration (Routledge & Arndt, 2009), and to decrease nationalistic world-
view defense (Routledge, Arndt, & Sheldon, 2004). Findings from the former two papers suggest that to the
extent that creativity is an avenue for individuation, it implies a threat to prevailing cultural worldviews.
Consequently, when death is salient and needs for cultural worldview validation are high, creativity may lead
to adverse psychological outcomes such as guilt unless social ties are in place (Arndt et al., 1999, 2005).
Findings from the latter two papers suggest that creativity, through its association with divergent thinking
and open-mindedness, may promote openness toward divergent worldviews in order to maintain psycholog-
ical security in the face of death (Routledge & Arndt, 2009; Routledge et al., 2004). Taken together, the
above findings highlight the interplay between creativity, cultural worldviews, and symbolic immortality
strivings. Specifically, when death is salient, creativity may promote a more flexible management of symbolic
immortality needs (e.g., Routledge & Arndt, 2009), and may confer existential benefits if it is compatible
with one’s cultural worldviews.

The effects of MS on creative performance

Three papers examined the effects of MS on creative performance (Greenberg, Porteus, Simon, Pyszczyn-
ski, & Solomon, 1995; Long & Greenwood, 2013; Routledge, Arndt, Vess, & Sheldon, 2008). Of these three
papers, one paper examined creative performance that either threatened social connections (self-oriented
creative performance condition) or enhanced social connections (community-oriented creative performance
condition). It was found that MS significantly decreased creativity for participants in the self-oriented condi-
tion, but not for participants in the community-directed condition, when compared to control participants
(Routledge et al., 2008). These findings suggest that when death is salient, creativity may be enhanced when
it is compatible with pro-social cultural worldviews (Routledge et al., 2008). Another paper examined the
effects of explicit and implicit MS on humorous captions’ generation, as rated by raters or self-rated (Long
& Greenwood, 2013). It was found following MS, creativity tapped as humor production was facilitated
when self-assessed under explicit MS. When other-assessed, creativity was enhanced when using subliminal
death primes, but hindered when MS was explicit (Long & Greenwood, 2013). These findings highlight the
need to be mindful of priming modality and creativity assessment methods in order to promote our under-
standing of MS on humor production (Long & Greenwood, 2013). Finally, one paper examined the use of
cultural objects in two practical tasks (Greenberg et al., 1995). Participants were requested to separate sand
from a black dye (task 1) and to hang a crucifix on the wall (task 2) using an object of their choice. Avail-
able objects included either cultural (i.e., flag, crucifix, respectively; cultural-object condition) or neutral
(i.e., white cloth, block of wood, respectively; neutral-objects condition) objects. It was found that MS par-
ticipants in the cultural-object condition took significantly longer to complete the tasks and considered sig-
nificantly more alternative solutions in comparison to MS participants in the neutral-objects condition and

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TABLE 1. Papers on the relationship between mortality salience and creativity (N = 12)
Measurement of
Creativity task Dependent variable MS-creativity findings
dependent variable
Arndt et al. (2005) Writing a story Guilt (S1), positive State Guilt scale of the Following MS, creative task participants
engagement (S2) Guilt Inventory (Kugler & who received neutral personality
Jones, 1992); positive feedback reported significantly more
Can Creativity Beat Death?

engagement was guilt when compared to controls. In

comprised of the positive addition, MS creative task participants
mood scale (Watson & showed significantly less guilt when
Clark, 1992), the vitality first receiving feedback emphasizing
scale (Ryan & Frederick, their conformity than when receiving
1997), and the Problem- neutral feedback (S1); following MS,
Solving Creativity participants who wrote about goals that
subscale of the Self- others value reported significantly more
Description Questionnaire positive engagement than participants
(Marsh & O’Neill, 1984). who wrote about self-value goals (S2).
Arndt et al. (1999) Writing a story Guilt (S1, S2), social State Guilt scale of the Creative task participants reported
projection of attitudes Guilt Inventory (Kugler & significantly more guilt following MS
(S3) Jones, 1992), 16 items when compared to controls (S1, S2);
from the Minnesota MS creative-task participants exhibited
Multiphasic Personality significantly higher social projection
Inventory-2 (Butcher, when compared to all other
Dahlstrom, Graham, participants (S3).
Tellegen, & Kaemmer,
1989).
Greenberg et al. (1995) Separating sand from a Creative fluency, time Number of alternative MS participants in the cultural-object
black dye, and hanging a solutions considered, task condition took significantly longer to
crucifix on the wall completion time. complete the tasks, and considered
significantly more alternative solutions
in comparison to MS participants in
the neutral-objects condition and
controls.
 TABLE 1. (Continued)
Measurement of
Creativity task Dependent variable MS-creativity findings
dependent variable
Landau and Greenberg n.a. Preference for one of The chosen pattern. Following MS, participants with high
(2006) six design patterns self-esteem opted for a high-risk
that offered differing creativity task which allowed greater
degrees of creative creative expression, while persons with
expression (S3) low self-esteem opted for a low-risk
task, which allowed limited creative
expression.
Long and Greenwood Generating humorous Humorousness Self-assessed and assessed Explicit MS participants rated their
(2013) cartoon captions by external raters. cartoons’ captions as significantly more
humorous captions in comparison to
control participants. When the captions
were rated by outside rater, the reverse
pattern was found. When using
subliminal primes, death-primed
participants showed significantly higher
levels of creativity in comparison to
controls.
Routledge and Juhl Creative T-shirt design Creativity Assessed by external raters. In response to mortality reminders,
(2012) persons with low PNS demonstrated
significantly increased creativity while
the creativity of persons with high PNS
was unaffected.
Routledge and Arndt Creative T-shirt design General (S1), Exploration scale (S1) Participants who engaged in a creative
(2009) nationalistic (S2), and (Green & Campbell, task (S1, S2) or read an essay valuing
religious (S3) 2000), rating worldview- creativity (S3) demonstrated
worldview exploration related film descriptions. significantly higher levels of worldview
exploration following MS, when
compared to control participants.
Journal of Creative Behavior

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TABLE 1. (Continued)
Measurement of
Creativity task Dependent variable MS-creativity findings
dependent variable
Routledge et al. (2008) Creative concert proposal Creativity Level of creativity on the Following MS, community-oriented
rock star promotion task participants were significantly more
as assessed by two creative when compared to self-
Can Creativity Beat Death?

independent coders. oriented participants; MS significantly

decreased creativity for participants in
the self-oriented condition, but not for
participants in the community-directed,
when compared to control participants.
Routledge et al. (2004) Creative T-shirt design Nationalistic worldview Rating an anti-American Following MS, creative task participants
defense essay. showed significantly less worldview
defense in comparison to conformity
task participants.
Sligte et al. (2013) Naming an animal (S1, Originality, creative Unique responses index MS participants showed significantly
S2); brainstorm (S3) fluency (originality), sum of higher levels of originality under legacy
unique response (fluency) in comparison to no legacy (S1). The
same was found in the socially valued
creativity condition in S2 and among
those high on individualism (for
originality and fluency) in S3. Under
no legacy, MS participants had
significantly lower fluency when
compared to controls (S1, S2). In the
negative social valuation condition, MS
participants were more fluent and
controls were more original under
legacy in comparison to no legacy (S2).
After performing a creative task, MS
participants had higher death-thought
accessibility under legacy when
compared to no legacy (S3).
 TABLE 1. (Continued)
Measurement of
Creativity task Dependent variable MS-creativity findings
dependent variable
Xu et al. (2013) n.a. Creative interest, death- Self-rated momentary MS increased creative interest (S1),
words accessibility interest in specific particularly among those with a pre-
creative activities, reaction existing creative tendency (S2) and in
time task creative activities with a low level of
challenge (S3) in comparison to a
control condition. Following MS,
persons who wrote about previous
creative endeavors showed significantly
greater suppression of death-related
words in comparison to persons who
wrote about past spending experiences
(S4). No comparison of these two
groups with the control condition was
reported, and the control group
completed no (MS) comparable task.
Xu and Brucks (2011) n.a. Creative interest Self-rated momentary Participants with lower levels of
interest in specific neuroticism, but not those with higher
creative activities levels of neuroticism, had significantly
increased creative interest following
MS.
Notes. MS = Mortality Salience; S = study; n.a. = not applicable.
Journal of Creative Behavior

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Can Creativity Beat Death?

controls (Greenberg et al., 1995). These findings suggest that when death and cultural icons are salient,
problem-solving creativity may decrease while creative fluency may increase. It may be that while MS
increased creativity, this was countered by increased avoidance of cultural worldviews violation by the
manipulation of cultural objects (Greenberg et al., 1995). Taken together, the above evidence highlights
the link between existential motives, death awareness, and creativity, and suggests that when death is salient,
the creative act may be shaped by its existential meanings.
In order to enhance the state of knowledge on the relationship between MS and creativity, and consid-
ering the comparability of the studies in the above three papers, we conducted a mini meta-analysis on the
impact of MS on creativity (Table 2). The inclusion criteria were: (a) papers categorized as examining the
effects of MS on creative performance; and (b) having an other-assessed creativity-related DV. A positive
effect size (Cohen’s d) indicates greater creativity under MS in comparison to the control condition. When
the MS condition had more than one cell, we selected the condition that theory predicted would result in
increased creativity. To enable inferences beyond these studies, we used random-effect models, which
assume different effect sizes may be underlying each study (Borenstein, Hedges, Higgins, & Rothstein,
2010). We contacted the first authors of all three papers with requests for additional data. Effect sizes were
calculated using an online calculator (Lipsey & Wilson, 2001), based on M, SDs, and n per cell, where data
were made accessible. When that was not the case, effect sizes were calculated based on the data presented
in the paper. To correct for the upward bias of effect sizes in small samples, we applied the formula pro-
vided by Hedges (1981). The meta-analysis was conducted on SPSS 19.0 using syntax provided by Field
and Gillett (2010). Heterogeneity was not significant, p > .47, indicating no systematic relationship between
study attributes and effect sizes. The weighted mean effect size for the relationship between MS and creativ-
ity was 0.30, representing a small to medium effect by Cohen’s (1988) criteria. In the field of psychology,
this effect size is comparable to the mean effect size in motivation studies (Richard, Bond, & Stokes-Zoota,
2003).

Legacy effects on creative performance following MS

The effect of leaving a legacy on creative performance following MS was examined in a single paper
presenting a series of studies (Sligte, Nijstad, & De Dreu, 2013). In two studies, the creative task was
naming an animal in a zoo, and legacy was manipulated by the animal’s life expectancy, that is, short (no
legacy) versus long (legacy). It was found that MS participants in the legacy condition had significantly
higher levels of originality in comparison to those in the no legacy condition (study 1). When

TABLE 2. Mini Meta-Analysis of the Effect of Death Awareness on Creativity

Dependent
Rating method MS condition Cohen’s d 95% CI Na
variable
Study
Greenberg Creative fluency One blind rater Cultural objects, 0.86 0.23–1.50 52
et al. (1995)b (number of explicit
solutions)
Long and Creativity of Six independent Explicit 0.53 1.04 to 0.04 63
Greenwood cartoon raters Implicit 0.57 0.03–1.12 54
(2013)c captions
Routledge Creativity Two independent Community- 0.37 0.41 to 1.17 49
et al. (2008)d of ideas raters oriented,
explicit
Weighted 0.30 0.36 to 0.96
mean effect
size
Notes. aAll samples were US students. bEffect size was calculated based on the t statistic, t(48) = 2.77 and
represents a 1 (n = 14) versus 3 (n = 38) comparison between MS cultural-object condition and the other
three conditions. cData were treated as two separate studies given the independency of samples. dEffect size
was calculated based on the F statistic, F (1, 23) = 0.91.

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 Journal of Creative Behavior

manipulating the social value of naming an animal, it was found that the same pattern persisted when
the task was socially valuable, but not when it was not socially valuable (study 2). Taken together, these
findings suggest that the promise of legacy increases creativity when death is salient, particularly when
creativity is aligned with cultural worldviews (Sligte et al., 2013). In study 3, the creative task involved
brainstorming on ways to improve the environment, and legacy was manipulated by whether one’s ideas
will bear one’s name and will be transferred for others to use. It was found that after performing a cre-
ative task, MS participants had higher Death-Thought Accessibility (DTA) under legacy when compared
to no legacy (study 3) (Sligte et al., 2013). The authors suggested this finding may be due to the experi-
ence of guilt following the creative task, which consequently led to higher DTA (Sligte et al., 2013).
Indeed, considering the fact that participants completed an individualism–collectivism questionnaire prior
to the creative task, it may be that individualism concerns were primed when mortality was salient, result-
ing in guilt (Arndt et al., 1999). Nonetheless, the finding demonstrates the relationship between enduring
creative products, MS, and DTA.

Individual differences in MS effects on creativity

The role of individual trait differences in moderating the effect of MS on creative performance or cre-
ative interest has been examined in five papers. Personal need for structure (PNS) reflects the extent of one’s
wish to perceive the world in clear, unambiguous terms (Thompson, Naccarato, Parker, & Moskowitz,
2001). In response to mortality reminders, persons with low PNS demonstrated increased creativity as mea-
sured by a T-shirt design task while the creativity of persons with high PNS was unaffected (Routledge &
Juhl, 2012). In another study, a creativity task was used as an indicator for participants’ decision-making
patterns. Following MS, participants were asked to select one of six design patterns that offered differing
degrees of creative expression. It was found that persons with high, but not low, self-esteem opted for a
high-risk creativity task which allowed greater creative expression (Landau & Greenberg, 2006, study 3).
Others have found that participants with lower, but not higher, levels of neuroticism had significantly
increased creative interest following MS (Xu & Brucks, 2011). Another paper examined the relationships
between creative interest, creative tendency, and DTA, yielding mixed results (Xu, Brucks, & Guo, 2013).
Finally, in the aforementioned study by Sligte et al. (2013, study 3), it was found that MS participants with
high, but not low, levels of individualism in the legacy condition had significantly higher levels of originality
and creative fluency in comparison to those in the non-legacy condition. Overall, the above studies show
that personal traits’ differences may moderate the effect of MS on creativity. In particular, findings suggest
that persons who are more existentially secure (e.g., higher self-esteem; Abeyta, Juhl, & Routledge, 2014) or
have less to benefit from rigid worldview defense (e.g., low PNS; Juhl & Routledge, 2010) may manage sym-
bolic immortality needs in the face of death more flexibly. Consequently, creativity may be enhanced, partic-
ularly when it involves legacy.

THE CURRENT STUDY

The above review of TMT literature on creativity highlights various elements in the relationship between
creativity and death. In terms of creativity facilitation, these include the potential pre-conditions for creativ-
ity to be existentially beneficial (i.e., compatibility with cultural worldviews) and the role of leaving a legacy
in enhancing creativity when death is salient. In terms of existential value, the evidence demonstrate the
loosing effect of creativity on the management of symbolic immortality needs when death is salient, and the
link between legacy, death awareness, and DTA. Overall, the bulk of the evidence reviewed support the
notion that creativity plays an important role in the management of existential concerns. It follows that cre-
ativity may serve as an existential anxiety buffer in the face of death. Indeed, the association between cre-
ative achievement and symbolic immortality has been supported both theoretically (Lifton, 1973; Solomon
et al., 2004) and by observational research (Simonton, 1989). Nonetheless, while one paper included a
manipulation of legacy (Sligte et al., 2013), the relationship between creative achievement and symbolic
immortality has not yet been directly examined.
If creativity is an avenue to symbolic immortality, then the promise of impactful, long-lasting cultural
contributions inherent in creative achievement should be associated with lesser DTA when death is salient.
However, it is noteworthy that high levels of creative achievement are generally exhibited by a minority of
persons within a given population (Eysenck, 1995). Accordingly, creative achievement may not comprise a
universal existential anxiety buffer but rather one that is valuable for persons who value and pursue creativ-
ity as a central part of their worldview. From a TMT perspective, this means that creative achievement may

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Can Creativity Beat Death?

work in tandem with creativity-related cultural worldviews in order to buffer against the awareness of death.
In addition, it has been found that conscious thoughts of death lead to higher DTA after a delay, once active
suppression relaxes (e.g., Greenberg, Pyszczynski, Solomon, Simon, & Breus, 1994). Accordingly, if creative
achievement is an existential anxiety buffer, then it should defend against elevated DTA following MS, par-
ticularly among those who value and pursue creativity. We hypothesize that creative achievement would be
associated with lesser DTA among persons who value, but not among persons who do not value, creativity,
after MS in comparison to controls.

METHODS
PARTICIPANTS AND RECRUITMENT
Participants were 108 undergraduate psychology students,1 aged 18–33 (Mage = 19.74, SDage = 2.57), of
whom 79% were female. Students received partial course credit for their participation.

PROCEDURE
This online study had a 2 (creative achievement: high, low) 9 2 (creative goals: high, low) 9 2 (MS:
high, low) between-subjects design and was presented as a study on personality. Participants completed
measures of creative achievement and creative goals that were embedded within filler questionnaires. Next,
participants were randomly allocated to the MS condition or the control condition, and completed either
the MS or control measurement, respectively. This was followed by the Positive and Negative Affect Scales
(PANAS), which served as a delay and distraction task because previous research has shown that MS effects
are manifested when persons no longer attend consciously to thoughts elicited by the manipulation (Green-
berg et al., 1994). Participants proceeded to complete the dependent variable, the DTA measure (Greenberg
et al., 1994). Finally, participants were asked what in their opinion was the purpose of the study, provided
demographic details, and were thanked and debriefed.

MATERIALS
Creative achievement
Creative achievement was assessed by the Creative Achievement Questionnaire (CAQ; Carson, Peterson,
& Higgins, 2005). The CAQ measures creative accomplishments in 10 domains (e.g., visual arts, music,
inventions) via self-report while focusing on concrete public accomplishments (e.g., reviews in national pub-
lications). The scoring of the CAQ assigns higher weights to higher levels of creative achievements, which
typically leads to a positively skewed distribution of the data (Carson et al., 2005). The index score was
computed as the mean of ratings across domains. Because the 10 domains do not seem to have one underly-
ing factor (Carson et al., 2005; Silvia, Kaufman, & Pretz, 2009), the calculation of a meaningful internal con-
sistency measure is hindered. The CAQ demonstrated good test–retest reliability (r = .81) and good
discriminant validity in a sample of students (Carson et al., 2005), and can be used to detect both individual
and group differences in creative achievement (Carson, Peterson, & Higgins, 2003).

Creative goals
A measure of creative goals was custom designed for this study based on the WASSUP (Willingly
Approached Set of Statistically Unlikely Pursuits; Johnson & Carver, 2006) in order to operationalize the
pursuit of creative goals, that is, having creativity as a central part of one’s cultural worldview. The measure
included four items (a = .79): (a) You will produce a great creative work; (b) You will make an important
contribution in the field of art or science; (c) Your creative work will be acknowledged by experts in your
field; (d) You will create work with enduring value that is original and useful. In order to obscure the pur-
pose of this measure, the above items were embedded within the 5-item WASSUP friends subscale (e.g.,
“You will have 10 close friends”). Items were rated on the WASSUP scale, ranging from 1 (NO CHANCE I
will set this goal for myself) to 5 (Definitely WILL set this goal for myself). To examine the factorial struc-
ture of the creative goals measure, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis using the Maximum Likeli-
hood method. The analysis and scree plot confirmed the one-dimensionality of the measure, accounting for
62% of the variance, KMO = .75, v2 (2) = 5.65, p = .06.

1
Five participants identified the manipulation, and three participants showed response bias. Accordingly, these eight participants
were excluded from analysis. All data exclusions are reported in accordance with APA standards.

10
 Journal of Creative Behavior

Mortality salience
In the MS condition, participants completed the Fear of Death scale (Templer, 1970), which is comprised
of 15 true/false statements (e.g., “I am very much afraid to die”). Control participants completed 15 parallel
statements on fear of public speaking (e.g., “I am very much afraid to speak in public”) (Cox et al., 2009).

Affect
Affect was assessed by the 20-item PANAS (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Items were rated on a
scale ranging from 1 (very slightly or not at all) to 5 (extremely). A total score was computed for positive
affect (10 items; a = .88) and negative affect (10 items; a = .91) as the mean of items’ ratings.

Death-thought accessibility
The accessibility of death thoughts was assessed using a 25-item word fragment completion task, in
which six words could be completed as either death-related words or death-unrelated words (Arndt, Green-
berg, Solomon, Pyszczynski, & Simon, 1997). For example, the word fragment “SK_ _ L” could be com-
pleted as either SKULL (death-related) or SKILL (death-unrelated). The possible death-related words were
buried, dead, decay, skull, grave, and old. The number of death-related words served as the DTA measure. To
ascertain that DTA is independent of negative-thought accessibility, six of the 25 word stems could be com-
pleted as either negative (death-unrelated) words or neutral words (Hart, 2014; Yaakobi, 2015). The possible
negative words were stress, sad, pain, guilt, sorrow, and shame. For example, the word fragment “STRE_ _”
could be completed as either STRESS (negative) or STREET (neutral). The number of negative words served
as the negative-thought accessibility measure.

RESULTS
Descriptive statistics for the study independent variables are shown in Table 3. There were no significant
correlations between the study independent variables, ps > .77.
To examine the effect of creative achievement, creative goals, and condition on DTA, we conducted a
linear regression. The independent variables creative achievement (centered), creative goals (centered), and
condition (dummy coded) were entered in the first step, interaction terms for each two combinations were
entered in the second step, and the interaction term for the three predictors was entered in the third and
final step. The dependent variable was DTA. The results of the regression are presented in Table 4. In the
first and second steps of the regression, no effects were significant. In the final model, there were no signifi-
cant main effects or 2-way interaction effects. As predicted, there was a significant three-way interaction
between creative achievement, creative goals, and condition, b = .35, B = .45, standard error (SE) = .22,
t = 2.02, p = .046, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.88 to 0.01, R2 = .10.
To follow-up on the three-way interaction, we used the SPSS PROCESS macro, Model 3 (moderated
moderation) (Hayes, 2013). The independent variable (X) was condition (dummy coded). The moderator
(M) was creative achievement (centered). The proposed moderator (W) was creative goals (centered). The
dependent variable (Y) was DTA. The breakdown of the three-way interaction is shown in Figure 1a for
high levels of creative goals and in Figure 1b for low levels of creative goals. It was found that the relation-
ship between creative achievement and condition was significant at high levels (+1 SD) of creative goals,
B = .96, SE = .42, t = 2.29, p = .02, 95% CI = 1.79 to 0.13, and non-significant at low levels
( 1 SD) of creative goals, p > .85. Thus, as predicted, only among people with high creative goals, creative
achievements were associated with reduced DTA under MS. Next, we examined the effect of condition on
DTA at high levels of creative goals. Among participants with low levels of creative achievement, the
observed patterns suggest that MS was associated with increased DTA, B = .90, SE = .52, t = 1.75, p = .08,
95% CI = 0.12 to 1.93. Among those with high levels of creative achievement, MS was associated with
decreased DTA, B = .83, SE = .47, t = 1.75, p = .08, 95% CI = 1.76 to 0.11. Although the latter

TABLE 3. Descriptive Statistics of Independent Variables (N = 108)

M (SD) Min–Max Alpha Cronbach Skewnessa Kurtosisb
Creative achievement 0.94 (0.90) 0–4.60 n.a. 1.84 3.60
Creative goals 2.87 (1.02) 1–5 .79 0.12 0.86
Notes. n.a. = Not applicable. aSkewness Standard Error = 0.23. bKurtosis Standard Error = 0.46.

11
Can Creativity Beat Death?

TABLE 4. Hierarchical Regression Predicting Death-Thought Accessibility (N = 108)

Hierarchical model
B SE B b
Step 1
Constant 2.25 .16
Condition (1 = MS) .24 .28 .10
CA .07 .13 .06
CG .16 .11 .13
Step 2
Constant 2.25 .16
Condition (1 = MS) .24 .23 .10
CA .19 .19 .15
CG .30 .16 .26a
Condition*CA .28 .25 .15
Condition*CG .26 .22 .16
CA*CG .05 .11 .05
Step 3
Constant 2.24 .15
Condition (1 = MS) .25 .22 .11
CA .36 .20 .27a
CG .28 .16 .24a
Condition*CA .50 .27 .28a
Condition*CG .21 .22 .13
CA*CG .24 .18 .24
Condition*CA*CG .45 .22 .35*
Notes. MS = Mortality Salience; CA = Creative Achievement; CG = Creative Goals; SE = Standard Error.
R2 = .03 for step 1, ΔR2 = .03 for step 2, ΔR2 = .04* for step 3. *p < .05, a.05 < p < .1.

patterns are marginally significant, taken together the results show that only participants with high levels of
creative goals and high creative achievements showed reduced DTA after reminders of mortality as com-
pared to the control condition. In order to examine the regression analysis for multivariate outliers and
their levels of influence, we followed the guidelines provided by Stevens (1984). First, we computed Maha-
lanobis Distances (MD), M = 6.93, SD = 10.12. Considering our analysis had three predictors and a sample
size of approximately n = 100, MD > 16.45 was selected as the cut-off point for multivariate outliers. Seven
cases exceeded this cut-off point. Second, to determine if any of these seven cases were influential points, we
calculated Cook distances, M = 0.01, SD = 0.05. Cook distances for all of the seven cases were < .46, that is,
below the cut-off point for influential outliers of > .1. Thus, no influential multivariate outliers were found.
In order to exclude the possibility that the interaction effect was due to affect, we re-ran the analysis
with negative-thought accessibility as a covariate, and with positive and negative affect as covariates. In these
two separate analyses, the three-way interaction remained significant, ps < .05. To examine if the effect of
the interaction is specific to DTA, we ran the original analysis with negative-thought accessibility, negative
affect, and positive affect as the dependent variable. In each of these three separate analyses, the interaction
was not significant, ps > .47. These findings support the notion that the decrease in DTA among persons
with high levels of creative goals and high creative achievements after MS in comparison to controls is not
due to changes in affect.

DISCUSSION
The relationship between creativity and symbolic immortality has been long acknowledged by a wide
range of scholars. In a narrative review of the literature, we found 12 papers that examined creativity utiliz-
ing a TMT paradigm. Overall, these TMT studies revealed that reminders of mortality can facilitate creativ-
ity within the context of people’s cultural and personal values. Furthermore, it was found that death
awareness affects the pursuit of social and psychological needs after creative engagement. A mini meta-analy-
sis of the impact of death awareness on creativity resulted in a small-medium weighted mean effect. Thus,

12
 Journal of Creative Behavior

6
(a) Creative
Achievement
5
Death-Thought Accessibility

Low (- 1 SD)

4
High (+ 1 SD)

0
Control Mortality Salience

6
(b) Creative
Achievement
5
Death-Thought Accessibility

Low (- 1 SD)

4
High (+ 1 SD)

0
Control Mortality Salience
FIGURE 1. (a) The interaction between condition and creative achievement at high levels (+1 SD) of creative
goals. (b) The interaction between condition and creative achievement at low levels ( 1 SD) of
creative goals.

the presented findings suggest that creativity (for those who value creativity) may function as an existential
anxiety buffer that helps to manage existential concerns. In view of this, we examined the anxiety buffering
functions of creative achievement in an experimental study that manipulated death awareness. It was found
that among participants with high, but not low, levels of creative goals, creative achievement was associated
with reduced DTA under MS as compared to the control condition. These findings show that creative
achievement serves as an existential anxiety buffer, particularly among people for whom creativity consti-
tutes a central part of their cultural worldview.

CREATIVE ACHIEVEMENT AND TERROR MANAGEMENT THEORY

From a TMT perspective, current findings are in line with a host of evidence on increased strivings for
various forms of symbolic immortality in response to death reminders. In line with Lifton’s (1973) notion
of one’s enduring contributions as way to attain symbolic immortality research revealed that MS can
increase; the willingness to self-sacrifice for an ideological cause (Routledge & Arndt, 2007), legacy-building

13
Can Creativity Beat Death?

needs (Wade-Benzoni, Tost, Hernandez, & Larrick, 2012), the appeal of fame (Greenberg, Kosloff, Solomon,
Cohen, & Landau, 2010), the desire to work (Yaakobi, 2015), and the desire for offspring (Fritsche et al.,
2007; Wisman & Goldenberg, 2005). The current findings support the notion that creative achievement may
be yet another avenue for symbolic immortality, particularly among individuals who value creativity. Impor-
tantly, this study represents an important first step toward establishing creative achievement as an anxiety-
buffering mechanism (see Harmon-Jones et al., 1997). According to TMT, one way to cope with death
awareness is to re-affirm one’s cultural worldviews and beliefs (Greenberg et al., 1990), for example, by
endorsing moral values (Bassett, Van Tongeren, Green, Sonntag, & Kilpatrick, 2015). To further examine
the anxiety buffering properties of creative achievement, it may be useful to focus on creativity-related
worldview defense measures. Specifically, because values such as self-direction and universalism are valued
by creative persons and are associated with creative accomplishment (Dollinger, Burke, & Gump, 2007),
threatening these values, for example, by presenting an essay that derogates them, may lead to their defense
in creative individuals when death is salient. However, high levels of creative achievement may buffer this
effect, so that highly accomplished creative persons would not show an increase in worldview defense under
MS. As lesser endorsement of values such as universalism is associated with less concern for others and soci-
ety as a whole (Schwartz, 2007), this line of future research may have implications for understanding the
existential underpinnings of immoral behaviors in creative pursuits (Vincent & Polman, 2016).

CREATIVE ACHIEVEMENT AND SYMBOLIC IMMORTALITY: A MIXED BLESSING?

The integration of creative achievement and TMT research has important implications for the field of
creativity research. If creative achievement can function as an existential anxiety buffer, than creativity may
inspire creative motives that function to defeat, deny, and cope with the ever-present awareness of death
(Abra, 1995). Although creativity is in general associated with positive contributions to humanity, the need
to understand the dark side of creativity (Cropley, Kaufman, & Cropley, 2008) is highlighted by events such
as the 2015 Paris attacks. In terrorist organizations, achievement motivations may contribute to destructive
innovations (Gill, Horgan, Hunter, & Cushenbery, 2013). Thus, understanding which death-related motiva-
tions underlie malevolent creative acts could enhance counter-terrorism practices. The existential functions
of creative achievement may operate by conferring collective symbolic immortality (“My cultural contribu-
tion will outlive me”) (Lifton, 1973) or personal symbolic immortality (“I will be remembered after I die”)
(Shneidman, 1973; Wojtkowiak & Rutjens, 2011). Accordingly, death-related motivations of malevolent cre-
ativity, that is, creativity driven by consciously negative intentions that yields personal benefits for the cre-
ator but has negative consequences for others (Cropley et al., 2008) may be driven by the desire to leave an
enduring, albeit destructive cultural impact (e.g., the 9/11 attacks) or by the promise of a personal legacy
after death (e.g., remembrance as martyr). It would therefore be opportune to examine the role of personal
or collective immortality motivations in different malevolent creative acts (e.g., ideological vs. self-promoting
malevolent self-sacrifice). In addition, creative acts of different valence may have a different impact on col-
lective existential security levels. Future studies could examine if conscientious creativity, that is, ethical, con-
structive creativity that is driven by positive intentions and has positive consequences for society (Kampylis
& Valtanen, 2010) confers collective existential protection through increasing personal hope or a belief in
human social-moral progress (Rutjens, van Harreveld, van der Pligt, van Elk, & Pyszczynski, 2016; Wisman
& Heflick, 2016). Conversely, studies could determine if there is an adverse collective existential impact to
malevolent creative acts. For example, failure to prevent terrorist attacks is likely to arouse outrage at the
state’s inability to provide protection (Fischbacher-Smith, 2016), thus undermining the symbolic existential
protection conferred by national identity and symbols (e.g., Greenberg et al., 1990). Overall, creative
achievements may be driven by different existential motivations and have valence-specific collective out-
comes. Thus, the current findings may contribute to the construction of a new framework to understand
the underpinnings and impact of death-motivated creative pursuits.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
In terms of practical implications, understanding the impact of creativity on existential concerns and
consequently on everyday attitudes and behaviors may serve to promote creative achievement, thus benefit-
ing individuals (Plucker, Beghetto, & Dow, 2004) and advancing human achievement (Forster, 2012).
Creativity is facilitated by person variables (Rhodes, 1961) such as risk-taking (Davis, Rimm, & Siegle, 2011;
Sternberg, 2006), intrinsic motivation (Amabile, 1983; Kieran, 2014), and perseverance in face of initial diffi-
culties (Sternberg, 2006). Accordingly, associating creativity with existential security may promote creative

14
 Journal of Creative Behavior

achievement in individuals by increasing perceived (symbolic and everyday) benefits and decreasing per-
ceived costs of creative pursuits (e.g., risky investment). Understanding the existential meanings of an
enduring creative achievement may be particularly valuable for expert (Pro-c) creative persons as they navi-
gate motivational and creative challenges en route to eminence (Big-C) (Kaufman & Beghetto, 2009; Ols-
zewski-Kubilius, Subotnik, & Worrell, 2016), for example, by identifying clear goals in terms of impact on
the field (Amabile & Kramer, 2011). In educational settings, communicating the link between creativity and
existential security may be valuable in enhancing students’ positive beliefs regarding their creative pursuits
(Wadaani, 2015) as a part of a wider strategy of supporting students’ intrinsic creativity motivations in their
learning environment (Beghetto & Kaufman, 2014). Overall, the findings of this study may be useful in pro-
moting creative achievement and creative motivation in people with varying levels of creative expression.

LIMITATIONS
This study is not without limitations. The sample in this study consisted of psychology students. It has
been shown that students or graduates of non-creative professions have significantly lower levels of creative
achievement in comparison to those of creative professions (Silvia & Nusbaum, 2012; Vellante et al., 2011).
This suggests that the anxiety buffering functions of creative achievement may be more robust among stu-
dents of creative professions, who by definition consider creativity as central to their cultural worldview
(Dollinger et al., 2007). By the same token, future studies may examine the anxiety buffering functions of
creative achievement in individuals with established high levels of creative achievement (e.g., Chavez-Eakle,
Lara, & Cruz-Fuentes, 2006), who may be particularly resilient to the awareness of death. Finally, our mini
meta-analysis represents the current state of knowledge on the relationship between death awareness and
creativity. While the small number of studies included may limit its precision (Borenstein et al., 2010), the
interpretation of this analysis is enhanced by the narrative review.

CONCLUSION
This study is the first to show the existential anxiety-buffering functions of creative achievement among
persons with high creative goals. Specifically, we found that creative achievement was associated with lower
DTA under MS in comparison to controls among persons with high creative goals. In line with Rank’s
(1968) notion of the artist’s desire self-immortalize in one’s work, our findings suggest that those who pur-
sue creativity and produce significant creative contributions may benefit from existential security in the face
of death. The current findings, narrative review, and mini meta-analysis advance existing research on the
link between creativity and death, and have implications for the promotion of creative achievement and
intrinsic motivation in creative individuals and in educational settings. The integration of creativity and
TMT provides a promising (and creative) avenue for understanding death-related creativity motivations and
their impact on individuals and society for scholars, educational policy makers, and creative persons.

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Rotem Perach, Arnaud Wisman, University of Kent

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Rotem Perach, School of Psychology, University of Kent,
Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NZ, UK. E-mail: rp367@kent.ac.uk

AUTHOR NOTE
This study was supported by the Kenneth Lindsay Scholarship Trust, the Anglo-Israel Association. This sponsor
had no role in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and
in the decision to submit the article for publication.

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