Open research questions in Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion

What the literature leaves open

• The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of how people's forecasted and experienced rejection by a potential romantic partner or friend affects their emotional and social well-being. The study highlights the need to explore the potential moderating role of participant gender on the effects of relationship type and inclusion status.

  What Could Have Been: Predicted and Actual Exclusion by Potential Romantic Partners and Platonic Friends · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies the challenge of measuring spiritual needs and death anxiety in hemodialysis patients. The research highlights the importance of addressing the physical, emotional, and social demands of hemodialysis patients. The study notes the need to integrate spiritually sensitive and existentially informed care into hemodialysis services.

  Facing Mortality: Spiritual Needs, Psychological Distress, and Death Anxiety in Hemodialysis Patients in Eastern Turkey · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in the understanding of spiritual needs and their relationship with death anxiety in hemodialysis patients. There is a need to examine the relationships among spiritual needs, psychological distress, and death anxiety in this population.

  Facing Mortality: Spiritual Needs, Psychological Distress, and Death Anxiety in Hemodialysis Patients in Eastern Turkey · 2026 · DOI

• Prior research has relied on convenience samples, combined disparate religiosity/spirituality constructs, and rarely tested nonlinear associations. The study aims to address this gap by examining associations between death anxiety and multiple religiosity/spirituality facets in a nationwide probability sample.

  Spiritual and Religious Beliefs, Behaviors, and Struggles in Relation to Death Anxiety: Evidence from a U.S. Nationwide Probability Sample · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should utilize longitudinal approaches, - Future research should use other measures of digital engagement, - Future research should further clarify the relationships between digital behaviors and adolescent mental health, - Future research should identify alternative mediating processes

  Exploring the Mediating Role of Social Media and Gaming in the Relationship between Adolescents’ Feelings of Loneliness, Ostracism and Internalizing and Externalizing symptoms · 2026 · DOI

• Limited research has specifically examined the influence of digital media on the relationships between social disconnection, mental health outcomes, and gender differences. The study aims to clarify the relationships between digital behaviors, social disconnection, and adolescent mental health.

  Exploring the Mediating Role of Social Media and Gaming in the Relationship between Adolescents’ Feelings of Loneliness, Ostracism and Internalizing and Externalizing symptoms · 2026 · DOI

• The influence of personality traits on trust in Human-Machine Interaction is not well understood. The role of personality traits in shaping and enhancing trust in Human-Machine Interaction remains underexplored. There is a need to consider individual personality differences and interaction modalities in the design of AI-driven interfaces.

  Trust in machines: how personality trait shapes static and dynamic trust across different human–machine interaction modalities · 2025 · DOI

• The study relies on self-reporting, and participants may choose more ethical options due to the social approval effect. The sample was limited to Chinese high school students. The study used a convenient sampling method.

  The effect of ostracism on social withdrawal behavior: the mediating role of self-esteem and the moderating role of rejection sensitivity · 2024 · DOI

• Exploring the relationship between ostracism and social withdrawal behavior will help deepen our understanding of the behavioral response to ostracism. Investigating the relationship between ostracism and social withdrawal in different cultural contexts. Examining the impact of ostracism on social withdrawal in different age groups.

  The effect of ostracism on social withdrawal behavior: the mediating role of self-esteem and the moderating role of rejection sensitivity · 2024 · DOI

• The study did not explicitly power to detect gender effects, - The sample was limited to single people

  What Could Have Been: Predicted and Actual Exclusion by Potential Romantic Partners and Platonic Friends · 2026 · DOI

• The relationship between death anxiety and religious attitude in patients awaiting kidney transplantation is not well understood. There is a need to investigate the factors affecting death anxiety and religious attitudes in these patients.

  Relationship Between Death Anxiety and Religious Attitude in Patients Awaiting Kidney Transplantation in Türkiye · 2026 · DOI

• Social belonging interventions are one of the most evidence-based approaches to supporting student belonging in higher education, yet their execution varies widely.

  A Scoping Review of Social Belonging Interventions in Higher Education · 2026 · DOI

• SES-related studies also produced inconsistent results, and the existing evidence does not support a uniform effect of SES on unfair-offer rejection.

  What is the impact of depression and socioeconomic status on socioeconomic decision-making: a systematic review and meta-analysis · 2026 · DOI

• Depression-related studies showed mixed findings, including higher rejection, lower rejection, and no significant association with unfair-offer rejection.

  What is the impact of depression and socioeconomic status on socioeconomic decision-making: a systematic review and meta-analysis · 2026 · DOI

• Cyber-ostracism has become an important challenge in digitally mediated university life, yet its influence on academic engagement remains insufficiently understood.

  Cyber-ostracism and academic engagement among Chinese university students: a three-wave longitudinal study of mediating and moderating mechanisms · 2026 · DOI

• Introduction Death anxiety is a critical mental-health concern among young adults; however, its heterogeneity and underlying psychological mechanisms remain understudied.

  Latent profiles of death anxiety among young adults: associations with self-esteem, security, and perceived social support · 2025 · DOI

• Greater levels of perceived uncontrollable mortality risk (PUMR) have been associated with lower health effort in previous research, but the topic remains understudied.

  The Relationship Between Perceived Uncontrollable Mortality Risk and Health Effort: Replication, Secondary Analysis, and Mini Meta-analysis · 2024 · DOI

• There is a lack of studies examining the impact of death anxiety and spirituality level on psychological well-being in geriatric home care patients. Prior studies have found a direct and significant effect of death anxiety on well-being, but the study aims to provide new insights into this relationship.

  The Impact of Death Anxiety and Spirituality Level on Psychological Well-Being of Geriatric Home Care Patients: Machine Learning Approach · 2026 · DOI

• Limited studies have explored the combined influence of emotional intelligence, coping strategies, and rejection sensitivity on young adults. The study aims to address this gap by examining the relationships between these constructs.

  Emotional intelligence, coping strategies and rejection sensitivity among young adults · 2026 · DOI

• Although we obtained the results of mutual negative predictions between ostracism and meaning in life, as hypothesized earlier, there are still aspects of this study that require improvement. First, While this study utilized longitudinal data, it’s important to note that both the assessment of meaning in life and ostracism relied on self-reported paper-and-pencil sur- veys. Future research endeavors could try to replicate the results of our study using experi- mental methodologies. Second, post-hoc power analysis showed that the power of certain paths was relatively low, so caution is still needed when interpreting the results of these paths (e.g., the differ- ences in the effects of meaning in life on being excluded and being ignored). Although a sample size of 906 participants is generally considered large, given the substantial fluctua- tions in path effect sizes within the model results of this study, a larger sample would be necessary for future research aiming to obtain more robust results. Third, the current study was conducted with a predominantly female sample, which may limit the generalisability of the findings across genders. Although gender was statistically controlled in the main analyses and additional models were tested without this control, certain gender effects were still observed at specific time points. Furthermore, gender-spe- cific cross-lagged models produced unstable estimates, likely due to insufficient subgroup sample sizes. Nevertheless, we still believe that gender could be a variable influencing the dynamic relationship between ostracism and meaning in life. In addition to gender, ostra- 1 3The Bidirectional Relationship Between Meaning in Life and Ostracism:… 71 Page 14 of 18 cism, meaning in life, and their associations may also be related to other variables such as personality traits, positive and negative affect, anxiety, self-esteem, and independent versus interdependent self-construal. Future research could explore how individual differences in these variables affect the relationship between ostracism and meaning in life. Despite these limitations, this study offers longitudinal evidence that emphasizes the bidirectional relationship between meaning in life and ostracism. This revelation deep- ens our comprehension of the importance of meaning in life and paves the way for novel approaches to tackling the negative repercussions of ostracism.

  The Bidirectional Relationship Between Meaning in Life and Ostracism: Insights from a Four-Wave Cross-Lagged Study · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should continue to explore the complex factors contributing to death threat behavior. Studies should investigate the role of modern digital environments in amplifying online hostility and radicalized identity formation.

  The Psychology of Death Threats: A Comprehensive Interdisciplinary Analysis of Trauma, Aggression, Narcissistic Injury, Radicalization, Power Dynamics, Online Hostility, Moral Disengagement, and Violence Risk among Individuals Who Make Death Threats under the MCA–IFS Framework · 2026 · DOI

• The current understanding of death threat behavior is limited by simplistic categorizations of threat-makers. There is a need for a comprehensive interdisciplinary analysis of the psychological mechanisms behind death threat behavior.

  The Psychology of Death Threats: A Comprehensive Interdisciplinary Analysis of Trauma, Aggression, Narcissistic Injury, Radicalization, Power Dynamics, Online Hostility, Moral Disengagement, and Violence Risk among Individuals Who Make Death Threats under the MCA–IFS Framework · 2026 · DOI

• The study seeks to fill a literature gap by examining existential nihilism and its relationship with spiritual well-being and sub-clinical depression, especially among young adults. The investigation considers the bidirectional link between existential nihilism and depression, highlighting how spiritual well-being can help lessen these impacts.

  SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING, EXISTENTIAL NIHILISM & SUB-CLINICAL DEPRESSION IN YOUNG ADULTS · 2026 · DOI

• The paper suggests that future research should explore the role of cultural myths, rituals, and narratives in shaping responses to war and mortality. The authors highlight the need for more research on the impact of identity fusion on responses to existential threats.

  From fear to meaning: terror management, cultural worldview, and collective dynamics in the context of war · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in our understanding of how terror management, cultural worldview, and collective dynamics shape responses to existential threats. The authors highlight the need for more research on the role of cultural myths, rituals, and narratives in mitigating existential anxiety.

  From fear to meaning: terror management, cultural worldview, and collective dynamics in the context of war · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion

• Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health. · Psychological Bulletin · 1988 · 5,490 citations
• Dynamics of a stressful encounter: Cognitive appraisal, coping, and encounter outcomes. · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · 1986 · 3,019 citations
• Negative life events, cognitive emotion regulation and emotional problems · Personality and Individual Differences · 2001 · 1,840 citations
• Ostracism · Annual Review of Psychology · 2006 · 1,648 citations
• The role of coping responses and social resources in attenuating the stress of life events · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · 1981 · 1,306 citations
• Loss of self: a fundamental form of suffering in the chronically ill · Sociology of Health & Illness · 1983 · 1,262 citations
• The Construction and Validation of a Death Anxiety Scale · The Journal of General Psychology · 1970 · 1,124 citations
• A model of egoistical relative deprivation. · Psychological Review · 1976 · 1,062 citations
• Emotional experience in everyday life across the adult life span. · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · 2000 · 1,038 citations
• The psychological implications of concealing a stigma: A cognitive-affective-behavioral model. · Psychological Bulletin · 2007 · 986 citations

Most recent work

• Knowing versus Doing: How Much Can Training Help People Soften the Blow of Social Rejection? · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · 2026
• To be or not to be (a prisoner): Social identification as cure and curse via self‐stigma and social exclusion · British Journal of Social Psychology · 2026
• With strength and breath, i laugh at death: a cross-sectional survey on involvement in recreational sport, resocialization, and well-dying perception among older adults · Frontiers in Psychology · 2026
• Transforming Death Anxiety through Meaning-Centered Contemplation: A Philosophical Dialogue between Buddhist Nianfo Practice, Logotherapy, and Neurophenomenology · International Journal of Philosophy and Theology (IJPT) · 2026
• What Could Have Been: Predicted and Actual Exclusion by Potential Romantic Partners and Platonic Friends · European Journal of Social Psychology · 2026
• Effects of social exclusion on self-disclosure: The roles of interpersonal trust and attribution style · Acta Psychologica · 2026
• Comparing terror management and time management: The effects of mortality awareness on time perception, delay discounting, and monetary allocation · Acta Psychologica · 2026
• The validation of the Persian death anxiety scale in cardiac outpatients: A psychometric and clinical study · Acta Psychologica · 2026
• Development and validation of a picture-based measure of prosociality · Acta Psychologica · 2026
• Burdens of belonging: managing the emotional toll of exclusion · Ethnic and Racial Studies · 2026

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