Putting the terror in terror management theory: evidence that the awareness of death does cause anxiety and undermine psychological well-being

Rooted in the writings of existentialists, terror management theory states that the awareness of death has the potential to create debilitating anxiety and compromise psychological well-being and that psychological buffers (e.g., self-worth) protect against these aversive effects. Hundreds of studies have supported the theory. However, until recently, little work has focused on the central assertion that the awareness of death causes anxiety and undermines well-being. We review a recent program of research that fills this critical void in the literature. This work has demonstrated that experimentally heightening the awareness of death increases anxiety and decreases well-being for individuals who lack appropriate psychological buffers.<br/

An appreciative view of the brighter side of terror management processes

Physical death is an inevitable part of life. From the perspective of terror management theory (TMT), people’s efforts to manage the awareness of death can sometimes have harmful social consequences. However, those negative consequences are merely one side of the existential coin. In considering the other side of the coin, the present article highlights the more beneficial trajectories of the terror management process. For example, the awareness of mortality can motivate people to prioritize their physical health; uphold prosocial values; build loving relationships and peaceful, charitable communities; and foster open-mindedness. Further, the article explores the possible balance between defense and growth motivations, including the motivations toward integrative self-expansion, creativity, and well-being. And finally, we tentatively consider the potential positive impacts of direct confrontations with mortality on terror management processes. In sum, the present analysis suggests that although death awareness can sometimes produce some harmful outcomes, at least under certain conditions it can also motivate attitudes and behaviors that have positive personal and social consequences

The Path to God is Through the Heart: Metaphoric Self-location as a Predictor of Religiosity

Metaphors linking the heart to warm intuition and the head to cold rationality may capture important differences between people because some locate the self in the heart and others locate the self in the head. Five studies (total N = 2575) link these individual differences to religious beliefs. Study 1 found that religious beliefs were stronger among heart-locators than head-locators. Studies 2 and 3 replicated this relationship in more diverse samples. Studies 4 and 5 focused on questions of mediation. Heart-locators believed in God to a greater extent partly because of empathy-related processes (Study 4) and partly because they tended to think in less analytic terms (Study 5). These studies extend our knowledge of how metaphors interact with personality processes

Ledelsesmodeller i danske virksomheder

I de seneste årtier er der opstået flere og flere ledelsesmodeller (kvalitetsprismodeller, ISO 9000, Balanced Scorecard etc.) som virksomheder kan anvende til at opnå en konkurrencemæssig fordel gennem forbedring af forretningsgangene. Rationalet bag de fleste af modellerne er, at der er en årsagssammenhæng mellem stakeholdertilfredshed (medarbejdere, kunder, ejere etc.) og virksomhedens finansielle resultater, og at modellen kan hjælpe virksomheden med at kapitalisere sammenhængen. Artiklen fokuserer på en sammenligning mellem virksomheder, der anvender en given ledelsesmodel, og de virksomheder der ikke gør. I den empiriske del indledes med en beskrivelse af udviklingen i anvendelsen af ledelsesmodeller i den private sektor i Danmark baseret på data fra Dansk Excellence Index. Denne beskrivelse fokuserer på den overordnede udvikling i anvendelse samt eventuelle forskelle med hensyn til branche og virksomhedsstørrelse. Desuden omhandler artiklen konsekvenserne af en række øvrige virksomhedskarakteristika (eksportandel, børsnotering m.v.). Artiklen antyder til slut hvilken effekt, det har at anvende en ledelsesmodel ved at rapportere forskelle i selvrapporterede resultater mellem virksomheder, der henholdsvis anvender/ikke anvender en given ledelsesmodel

Kinetic modelling of sterol transport between plasma membrane and endo-lysosomes based on quantitative fluorescence and X-ray imaging data

Niemann Pick type C1 and C2 (NPC1 and NPC2) are two sterol-binding proteins which, together, orchestrate cholesterol transport through late endosomes and lysosomes (LE/LYSs). NPC2 can facilitate sterol exchange between model membranes severalfold, but how this is connected to its function in cells is poorly understood. Using fluorescent analogs of cholesterol and quantitative fluorescence microscopy, we have recently measured the transport kinetics of sterol between plasma membrane (PM), recycling endosomes (REs) and LE/LYSs in control and NPC2 deficient fibroblasts. Here, we use kinetic modeling of this data to determine rate constants for sterol transport between intracellular compartments. Our model predicts that sterol is trapped in intraluminal vesicles (ILVs) of LE/LYSs in the absence of NPC2, causing delayed sterol export from LE/LYSs in NPC2 deficient fibroblasts. Using soft X-ray tomography, we confirm, that LE/LYSs of NPC2 deficient cells but not of control cells contain enlarged, carbon-rich intraluminal vesicular structures, supporting our model prediction of lipid accumulation in ILVs. By including sterol export via exocytosis of ILVs as exosomes and by release of vesicles—ectosomes—from the PM, we can reconcile measured sterol efflux kinetics and show that both pathways can be reciprocally regulated by the intraluminal sterol transfer activity of NPC2 inside LE/LYSs. Our results thereby connect the in vitro function of NPC2 as sterol transfer protein between membranes with its in vivo function

Angiogenesis PET Tracer Uptake (⁶⁸Ga-NODAGA-E[(cRGDyK)]₂) in Induced Myocardial Infarction and Stromal Cell Treatment in Minipigs

Angiogenesis is considered integral to the reparative process after ischemic injury. The αvβ3 integrin is a critical modulator of angiogenesis and highly expressed in activated endothelial cells. 68Ga-NODAGA-E[(cRGDyK)]2 (RGD) is a positron-emission-tomography (PET) ligand targeted towards αvβ3 integrin. The aim was to present data for the uptake of RGD and correlate it with histology and to further illustrate the differences in angiogenesis due to porcine adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal cell (pASC) or saline treatment in minipigs after induction of myocardial infarction (MI). Three minipigs were treated with direct intra-myocardial injection of pASCs and two minipigs with saline. MI was confirmed by 82Rubidium (82Rb) dipyridamole stress PET. Mean Standardized Uptake Values (SUVmean) of RGD were higher in the infarct compared to non-infarct area one week and one month after MI in both pASC-treated (SUVmean: 1.23 vs. 0.88 and 1.02 vs. 0.86, p &lt; 0.05 for both) and non-pASC-treated minipigs (SUVmean: 1.44 vs. 1.07 and 1.26 vs. 1.04, p &lt; 0.05 for both). However, there was no difference in RGD uptake, ejection fractions, coronary flow reserves or capillary density in histology between the two groups. In summary, indications of angiogenesis were present in the infarcted myocardium. However, no differences between pASC-treated and non-pASC-treated minipigs could be demonstrated