“Love Over Fear”: How Nostalgic Songs and Relationship Types Buffer Death Anxiety

The fear of death is a fundamental human anxiety. From the perspective of terror management theory (TMT), this study examines the potential of music to alleviate death anxiety. We conducted a 2 (salience: mortality vs. control) × 2 (song type: nostalgic vs. non-nostalgic) × 2 (relationship type: romantic vs. parent-child) between-subjects factorial experiment with 335 middle-aged participants (ages 35-40) who were married, had children, and had living parents. Multiple interaction effects among mortality salience, nostalgia, and relationship type indicated that romantic songs - especially nostalgic romantic songs - were more effective in reducing death anxiety than parent-child relationship songs. The findings highlight the defensive function of romantic relationship songs within the TMT framework, offering new insights for clinical interventions and public mental health practices aimed at managing death anxiety.